The Potato Girl Isn't Hungry?
by djingledjango
Summary: During the 104th Trainee Regiment's time training, Sasha Braus and Mikasa Ackerman realize how much they truly mean to one another. But they struggle to keep their relationship a secret. I'm bad at summaries. Takes place in the training arc. Mikasa/Sasha RATED MA FOR SEXUAL CONTENT
1. Chapter 1

**So I'm writing this now because there is a disturbing lack of Mikasa/Sasha on this site. I intend to rectify this problem. This story takes place during the training arc. (A four year period that the series only shows a few days of if I remember correctly.) So if you're a believer in the Makasa/Sasha ship, you can use this in your headcanon! (Because God knows that's what I do.) I just don't know how anyone **_**couldn't **_**adore this ship. But hey, whatever. **

**Now on with it! **

**Chapter 1**

It had been a brutal and exhausting day for the 104th trainee squad. After a very physically-strenuous bout of physical training and combat tactics training, the entire squad was forced to run around the entire compound seven times, totaling a length of about seven miles. Commander Keith had been adamant that they keep their pace at least above a fast jog the entire time.

Sasha Braus was certainly in no mood to run. Her stomach growled as she struggled to keep the pace of her fellow trainees. She was naturally faster than most of the others, but her endurance wasn't much compared to that of many of the other trainees. At least she was doing better than Armin, who was lagging behind as usual. Sasha always felt a distinct twinge of sympathy flow through her every time she saw Armin struggling to hold his own physically with the others. But he could outsmart any single one of them in any way. All of the trainees knew that.

Eren and Jean were giving each other dead-eyed looks as they kept the pace well above a fast jog and continually attempted to best the other.

"Why are you even bothering to keep up with me, Jean?" Eren asked with a sneer. "You're just gonna end up fat and lazy with the Military Police!"

"You're wrong, you little piss ant!" Jean angrily snapped back to him. "I'm gonna show you that the Military Police are just as fighting fit as the Survey Corps or the Garrison!" Sasha rolled her eyes at the display of their competitiveness. They were always at each other's throats, but everyone knew the reason they fought so much was that Jean didn't want to accept the truth that the Military Police were nothing but corrupt scoundrels who abused their power. Commander Keith made short work of their argument, making them separate so as to stop the fighting.

When Sasha's eyes floated next to her to Mikasa Ackerman, the top trainee in their group, she could feel her stomach flutter. She didn't look winded in the slightest, striding at a perfect, fast pace. Her well-toned muscles moved in synchronization throughout her whole body. Sasha couldn't help but admire her as much as she could, given that she excelled in every aspect of their training. Mikasa barreled forward with a stalwart determination, not bothering to regard anyone else. In the midst of her admiration of Mikasa, Sasha, to her horror, felt her foot hit a rock and she flew forward. Her forehead hit the ground and the brunette couldn't help but to take a moment to grasp it and groan in pain. The trainees stopped and turned to see what had happened.

"Are you alright, Sasha?" Sasha heard a quiet-sounding, yet concerned voice ask her. Sasha looked up from the ground to see Mikasa standing above her with her hand held out in a helpful manner. Through her pain, Sasha couldn't help but acknowledge once again how beautiful Mikasa was, and the fact that she was concerned somehow made her more so. Sasha blushed as she regarded the top trainee, and took her hand. Tears brimmed in Sasha's eyes as she realized how weak she must have looked to all the other trainees. She stood slowly.

"Sasha?" Connie asked her, concerned for her as well. "Are you okay? You're bleeding." Sasha realized that this was in fact true as a drop of blood drifted down her face from the wound on her forehead. This made her want to cry even more than she already did.

"I'm...I'm fine." Sasha said with a sniffle as she stood and dusted herself off. "Just...Just tripped is all. Let's go." Sasha took off into a fast-paced jog, and joining her, the whole squad resumed running.

"Shake it off, Braus." Keith said. "You'll be alright."

Eventually most of the squad had gotten ahead of Sasha due to her growing fatigue and pounding head, but for some reason, Mikasa stayed right next to Sasha, casting an occasional concerned glance her way.

The running seemed to go on for hours, but Sasha knew that it couldn't have possibly been that long. Her head pounded heavily from her fall, making her vision distort slightly and her breathing increase. The final time around the complex, Keith continued to scream at them.

"Do any of you honestly believe you can successfully fight Titans in your current condition?!" He spouted from the top of his horse. "You are the most pathetic group of trainees I have ever encountered! You all would have been eaten by now!"

Sasha breathed heavily as she ran. She looked at her commander disdainfully out of the corner of her eye and groaned. The commander's eyes seemed to widen as he flashed a glare at the trainee. Sasha's stomach leaped at the intense glare she received.

"Did you say something, Braus?!" He growled at her.

"N-No sir!" Sasha quickly replied.

"Don't you _dare_ lie to me or you won't eat for an entire day!" Keith barked in her face, leaning down from his horse. This threat struck a chord within Sasha as her bottom lip trembled for a moment.

"I groaned, sir." Mikasa said suddenly, making Keith's head snap toward her direction. Sasha's eyes widened in surprise as she looked at Mikasa.

"You did _what, Ackerman_?" Commander Keith snarled at the top trainee. Sasha's heart beat frenetically in her chest as she began to feel sick. Mikasa was going to take a punishment for her...she was helping her...again.

"I groaned." Mikasa said simply.

"No!" Sasha burst out suddenly, her yell making her head pound even harder. "It _was_ me!" Mikasa let out a small gasp and looked over at Sasha, who still had tears in her eyes.

"So it _was _you. I thought so." Commander Keith narrowing his eyes.

"I groaned and Mikasa is just trying to cover for me!" Sasha said, looking ahead to see Connie, Reiner and several other trainees looking back to see what was happening.

"Very noble of Mikasa, it seems." Keith said. "You'll both be doing another lap around the complex." Sasha's stomach dropped as she looked at Mikasa, who didn't look to be very fazed by what the Commander had said.

"But sir! Mikasa did nothing wrong!" Sasha burst out. "She was only trying to-"

"Sasha!" Mikasa said as they ran, earning the brunette's attention. "It's alright." Sasha's stomach boiled as the fact that she had just gotten herself another lap around the complex resonated within her. She hadn't saved Mikasa the punishment, which was what the top trainee was attempting to do for her. They came to the stopping point and the trainees all slowed down and breathed heavily.

"Trainees! Report to the mess hall for dinner! Ackerman! Braus!" Keith barked. "Once more around the complex." He continued to ride on his horse beside the two girls. Mikasa merely stared ahead, focusing on her goal. Sasha did nothing but despair about her current situation. In a show of what she considered to be her own personal stupidity, she had ruined the situation for both her and Mikasa. Sasha's exhaustion, coupled with the horrible headache caused by her injury caught up with her and she slowed down dramatically. Keith and Mikasa slowed down with her, but for completely different reasons.

"Braus!" The Commander said angrily. "What are you doing?"

"I'm...tired sir..." Sasha said in between deep breaths. "I don't think I can take much more."

"Do you think the titans are going to care whether or not you're tired?!" He screamed at her. "You are pathetic!"

"Sir, I...I..." Sasha gasped as tears filled her eyes once more.

"You are going to be a failure to whatever branch you decide to join!" Keith bellowed right in the trainee's ear. "I've seen what happens to soldiers like you. _They get eaten alive!_"

"...Sir..." Sasha barely said through a combination of her exhausted breathing and her attempts to hold back a small sob.

"Your family will never see you again and your death will be just one of thousands!" Keith continued to scream. Sasha said nothing this time as she only gasped for air.

"Sir." Mikasa said, furrowing her eyebrows.

"Your death will mean nothing!" He continued.

"Sir!" Mikasa said louder, prompting the commander to look at her with a look of fury in his eyes. "You should stop."

"Why would that be, Ackerman!?" He asked her, seemingly ready to blow.

"Look at her." Mikasa said. "You're not motivating her anymore. You're just torturing her."

"_I will do whatever I see fit with __**my **__trainees, Ackerman!"_ Keith screamed suddenly. "For that outburst, you will do another lap around the complex!" Mikasa said nothing, and neither did the Commander after that. Mikasa was taking more punishment, but at least she had gotten him to stop attacking Sasha.

Sasha's mind buzzed as she saw the stopping point approaching finally. Everything that the Commander had said to her was true.

She wasn't a good soldier.

She was pathetic.

She was going to die.

_And it would mean nothing. _

The three of them stopped when they hit the stopping point, and Sasha said nothing. She merely stood where she was, her head hanging down and her eyes hidden by her bangs. She clenched her fists tight as she awaited the Commander to give her an order.

"Report to dinner, Braus." He said, his voice sounding much calmer now.

"I...I don't feel well." Sasha said, struggling not to sob. "And I'm not hungry. I'm going to...go...go to bed." The brunette turned and walked quickly toward her barracks. The Commander's eyes widened slightly as he reached his hand out and went to say something, but stopped himself. He looked over at Mikasa to see her scowling at him.

"Another lap, Ackerman." Keith said, his voice strangely quiet. "Now."

Sasha passed the mess hall, and moved toward her barracks.

"Sasha!" She heard Connie call to her. "Come on and come eat! What're you waiting for?" He jogged up to the brunette, who stopped, but didn't turn toward him.

"Not tonight, Connie." Sasha said, struggling to keep her composure.

"Oh, come on. _You're_ not eating? You can't fool me." He said with a happy tone to his voice. "Come on, Eren and Jean are even kinda getting along tonight."

"I said not tonight, Connie!" Sasha said, turning toward him. Connie's eyes widened when he saw the Sasha was crying. The brunette's tone softened significantly as she insecurely grabbed her arm. "I'm just...Not feeling good tonight."

"Hey...What's wrong?" Connie asked as he slowly approached her. "You can tell me."

"Not now, Connie." Sasha said, turning quickly and moving back toward her barracks, leaving Connie both extremely confused and concerned.

Sasha burst into her barracks and turned on her shower before stepping in. The brunette took a moment to enjoy the feeling of the soothing water on her forehead.

_Your death will mean nothing._ Keith's voice in her head interrupted her good feelings and made her heart beat within her chest.

She vigorously scrubbed herself to wash off the sweat from her training and quickly got out of the shower. Standing before her mirror, she began to tend to her forehead injury, applying ointment to it before putting on her pajamas and getting into her bed. She curled up underneath the sheet she had on the bed and shivered.

_Your death will mean nothing. _

Sasha silently cried herself to sleep.

...

"Report to dinner, Ackerman." Keith said once Mikasa had finished her second extra lap. "I hope that you've learned a valuable lesson tonight."

"Like you hope Sasha did?" Mikasa said spitefully as she approached the mess hall. She got no reply from the Commander as he silently returned to his quarters. Mildly winded from the extra laps, Mikasa entered the mess hall, picked up her food and sat down next to Armin, who sat across from Eren and Connie.

"So why was she crying, Connie?" Armin asked Connie, who shrugged.

"I don't know. All I do know is that she's skipping dinner." Connie replied. "And knowing Sasha, it must be really bad to make her wanna skip dinner."

"Do you think it could be because she fell in front of everybody?" Eren asked.

"Maybe." Connie replied simply, seemingly lost in thought. "But that's happened to her before."

"That'd be a pretty sad excuse to isolate yourself." Eren said with a raised eyebrow. Mikasa almost instantly looked toward Eren angrily.

"Don't be an idiot, Eren." Mikasa said, her eyebrows furrowed. "I know why."

"Why?" Connie asked Mikasa.

"The Commander was very brutal to her during the extra lap." Mikasa said. "The things he said to her...shouldn't be said to anyone. She seemed extremely broken when we arrived at the finish. No one as kind as Sasha deserves that sort of treatment."

"Oh..." Eren said as he rubbed the back of his head. "Well now I feel really bad."

"You didn't know, Eren." Armin reassured his friend. As her friends talked to one another, Mikasa became lost in thought. The Commander had been psychologically torturing Sasha. After the fall and her head injury, it was a miracle she could take as much as she did. Mikasa knew that she shouldn't have been thinking so much about the situation...That it didn't matter and that Sasha would be alright in the morning. But the top trainee was still profoundly worried for Sasha's sake...So she began to think about how she could rectify the problem.

"Mikasa?" The girl heard a voice say and she responded to find that it was Armin.

"Oh...what is it, Armin?" Mikasa said.

"Do you think Sasha will be okay?"

"Oh. I believe so...yes." Mikasa said simply, not knowing whether or not what she was saying would be true.

...

Sasha maneuvered through the trees using her three-dimensional gear. Branches whizzed past her head as she cheered happily. She felt like she was flying. To her left was Connie, one of her closest friends. In the air, their hands collided in a high-five, followed by another cheer.

"Race ya!" Connie said with a large smirk.

"Oh, you're on!" Sasha said with a determined expression. They shot through the trees, dodging and jumping off of branches.

"I'm gonna beat you!" Connie said as he moved ahead of Sasha slightly. Just as Sasha was going to pull herself into the lead, she looked to her side to see a figure standing on one of the tree branches, watching her and Connie race. Intrigued by the figure, Sasha let Connie win as she approached the figure, shooting her cables from branch to branch until she landed on the same branch as the figure. By now she had discovered the figure to be Mikasa.

"Hey, Mikasa!" Sasha said happily.

"Sasha..." Mikasa said as she grabbed Sasha's hand with a smile. "Let's fly together." Mikasa engaged her three-dimensional maneuver gear and pulled Sasha along with her. Sasha let out a small happy squeal and engaged her own so as to keep her balance. Mikasa and Sasha kept a steady rhythm and as they were at the height of a jump, Mikasa moved her face closer to Sasha's. The brunette blushed heavily and smiled, her eyes widening. Time seemed to slow as they moved their faces closer.

Closer.

A hand.

A giant hand.

A titan grabbed the two girls as they flew, pulling them right before it's face. They stared up at the titan together, knowing their death was near.

Sasha's stomach sank as she looked at Mikasa, her eyes flowing over with tears. Mikasa merely stared back at her blankly. The titan opened its mouth and moved them toward it.

_Your death will mean nothing. _Keith's voice reverberated in her head. The titan began to drop the two of them into its maw...

"Wake up, Sasha." Mikasa said, waking Sasha from her nightmare. Sasha breathed heavily for a moment before finally looking up at Mikasa.

"Mikasa!" Sasha said, looking up at her fellow trainee, who was in pajamas as well as her. "What are...what are you doing in here?" Sasha noticed that Mikasa was holding a platter with stew and a dinner roll.

"You skipped dinner and came back here." Mikasa said. "I figured that I'd bring you some."

"But..."

"You should eat." Mikasa said, interrupting the brunette. "It wouldn't be smart to go on an empty stomach." Sasha nodded subtly and took the platter from Mikasa, who merely sat on a stool beside Sasha's bed.

"How did you get this?" Sasha asked.

"I snuck into the mess hall and got it for you." Mikasa said, gesturing toward the food. "Go ahead and eat."

"Why did you do this?" Sasha asked her.

"Because I was worried." Mikasa said, not bothering to beat around the bush. Sasha always knew that Mikasa was not one to mince words.

"Why?" Sasha asked.

"Just eat." Mikasa said. "Stop asking so many questions." Sasha nodded and went to work on her food. She hungrily ate, despite claiming that she wasn't hungry earlier. As she ate, Mikasa grabbed a large bandage she had brought with her as well and prepared to nurse Sasha's injury. Sasha managed to finish off the entire platter in about three minutes.

"Thank you for the meal." Sasha said, gratefully to Mikasa, who stood before her.

"You're welcome." Mikasa said before holding up the bandage. "Sit up, please." Sasha did as she was asked before Mikasa applied a burning ointment to the injury, making Sasha wince. The injury on her forehead burned like fire.

"That hurts." Sasha said, raising an eyebrow.

"It's killing the bacteria." Mikasa said as she placed the bandage on Sasha's injury. "It'll heal faster this way."

"Oh...Okay." Sasha said with an appreciative smile. "Uhm...Thanks."

"Don't mention it." Mikasa said with a small nod before sitting back down on the stool. "Now. Tell me why you skipped dinner."

"I hit my head." Sasha said, gesturing up to the bandage and smirking. "You were there, remember?"

"Sasha, I'm not stupid." Mikasa deadpanned as she raised an eyebrow. "I heard what the Commander said to you." At this, the brunette almost immediately hung her head.

"Oh...right." Sasha muttered. "You did, didn't you?"

"Why did it bother you so much?" Mikasa asked her. Sasha looked up at Mikasa and gave her a sad smile.

"What are we doing here, Mikasa?" Sasha asked the black-haired girl, who raised an eyebrow at the inquiry.

"We're training to fight titans." Mikasa answered bluntly. "What else would we be doing?"

"Well you're definitely training to fight titans." Sasha replied. "You're the top trainee here. I'm one of the weakest."

"If you think you're so weak, what do you think _you're_ doing here?" Mikasa asked Sasha, who chuckled quietly to herself.

"Lining up a buffet." Sasha muttered, surprising Mikasa.

"Sasha, you-"

"All I do is mess up and fall and fail the evaluations. I can't do anything right." Sasha said, suddenly breaking down into tears. "I never win and I barely have the strength to keep going."

"Sasha, I..."

"I mean, what am I thinking?!" Sasha said frantically as she cried, placing her hands on her face. "I can't fight titans! I can't even finish the training regiment faster than anyone but Armin!" Sasha hung her head once more and continued to cry for almost five minutes. Mikasa couldn't help but place a hand on the brunette's shoulder.

"Sasha."

"I'm going to die."

"_Sasha._"

"And it's going to mean nothing."

"_Sasha!_" Mikasa said loudly, snapping Sasha from her sobbing. The crying girl watched Mikasa as she stood and sat next to her on the bed. "You're not pathetic. I've seen countless numbers of our fellow trainees give up during exercises because they got too tired. But you...you almost always find a way to work through it. You're very intuitive and you're very resilient. I don't think I've ever seen you give up."

"Well, no but I..."

"And you manage to sneak food from the mess hall all the time." Mikasa said. "I never knew the difficulty of that until tonight." Sasha let out a small giggle and sniffled.

"You'd be...surprised at what I could do when I'm hungry." Sasha said with a smile. "Oh...You must think I'm so...weak. I mean, I'm crying all the time and you're just always...So strong." Mikasa blushed a little at the compliment.

"I think you're human." Mikasa said, placing a hand on Sasha's shoulder softly. "You can't tell me you haven't noticed other trainees crying since we've been here."

"Well..."

"You know all about Jean and his 'secret times alone in the bathroom'." Mikasa said before blushing heaviliy and putting a hand on her mouth. "Oh, that came out wrong." Sasha burst out into laughter after that, leaning over her lap before sitting back up.

"Happens to me all the time." Sasha said with a smile. "Don't worry about it."

"I honestly wouldn't be surprised if he really did...well..." Mikasa said, blushing again and making Sasha break out into more laughter.

"Well, he _does _ like to look in the mirror a lot." Sasha added.

"Rather closely too."

"Oh, Jean..." Sasha said. "If only you weren't always being such a jerk..."

"I think he may have another side to him." Mikasa said. "Maybe he could surprise us."

"Maybe...but I doubt it." Sasha said before noticing that she wasn't crying anymore.

"I...I need to head back to my barracks." Mikasa said as she stood. "Sleep well." She was stopped by Sasha suddenly grabbing her hand. Mikasa looked back to see Sasha with a pleading look on her face.

"Don't go." Sasha said. "Please. I like having you around." Mikasa blushed and after briefly considering her options, decided to stay. She sat down next to Sasha once more, who laid back before patting the bed next to her. Mikasa sighed quietly and laid down next to her fellow trainee.

"So...do you have your eye on anyone?" Sasha asked Mikasa, who raised an eyebrow at her.

"Come again?" Mikasa asked.

"You know...is there anyone you like?" Sasha asked with a smile, making Mikasa squirm where she was for a bit.

"I...I don't really have time for any of that." Mikasa said, feeling awkward and blushing.

"Oh, come on...there's gotta be someone that you might have even thought of..."

"I don't know." Mikasa said promptly. "What about you?"

"Me? Oh...There are a couple people, I guess." Sasha said, twiddling her thumbs on her chest. "I mean, Connie's kinda cute, but I don't see him as anything more than a friend. But I won't lie to you...I haven't given much thought to it either."

"Why ask?" Mikasa inquired, making Sasha giggle quietly.

"I don't know." Sasha said. "Just wondering." Sasha felt a blush come onto her face and looked over at Mikasa to see that she was blushing as well.

"What branch do you plan on joining?" Mikasa asked.

"Me?" Sasha replied. "I was thinking that I might join the Garrison."

"Why the Garrison?"

"Well because I'm probably not strong enough to be in the Survey Corps, and I definitely won't make it into the top ten, so the Military Police is out." Sasha explained. "What good person would want to join with them anyway?"

"I think that you're going to surprise yourself." Mikasa said, sitting up on an elbow. "I think you're much stronger than you believe yourself to be. I think you'll make it into the top ten." Sasha giggled at Mikasa's statement. "What's so funny?"

"I just think it's cute that you have so much faith in me." Sasha said. Mikasa furrowed her eyebrows and sat up before turning away from Sasha.

"You think I'm joking." Mikasa said. "After everything I've done tonight...You think I'm joking."

"No! No I don't think you're joking." Sasha said, sitting up and putting a hand on Mikasa's shoulder. "I shouldn't have said cute. I should have said...sweet."

"Sweet?" Mikasa asked before turning toward Sasha. "What's the difference?"

"I don't think there is one." Sasha said. "But cute could be taken negatively, like you just did. But sweet...I don't know, it just sounds better I guess. I think it implies thankfulness."

"Oh." Mikasa said before laying back down on the bed.

"But what about you?" Sasha asked Mikasa, who sighed heavily and looked up to the ceiling.

"I will be joining whatever branch Eren joins." Mikasa said, making Sasha nod silently.

"To protect him?" Sasha asked. Mikasa nodded and looked over at Sasha fondly.

"I told you that you are fantastically intuitive, didn't I?" Mikasa said, making Sasha smile appreciatively.

"But why me?" Sasha asked Mikasa, who turned her head toward the brunette.

"I don't understand." Mikasa replied.

"Why help me out so much? I don't see you going out of your way like this for Annie...or Ymir." Sasha said as she twiddled her thumbs.

"Annie is cold and distant...Ymir is rather aggressive and self-absorbed." Mikasa said. "You're just...You're a good person. You're always kind and you genuinely care for others." Sasha's chest lit up at Mikasa saying this.

"You've really helped me tonight, Mikasa." Sasha said, blushing more and turning onto her left side toward Mikasa. "I...I don't know what I would have done without you."

"I wanted to." Mikasa said back to her blushing more heavily as well. "I was concerned."

"You know, I could tell that you were concerned for me through the whole thing." Sasha said, placing a hand on Mikasa's arm. "How you'd slow when I slowed or speed up when I'd speed up."

"You had hit your head." Mikasa replied, looking to the side, away from Sasha. "It was what anyone would do."

"Then why were you the only one who did?" Sasha asked Mikasa, who looked into Sasha's brown eyes. They looked into each other's eyes for a while before Mikasa replied.

"Well...I care for you." Mikasa said, her heart beating in her chest.

"I know." Sasha said, pulling Mikasa into a hug. "Thank you." Sasha squeezed Mikasa close to her and Mikasa returned the hug, initially feeling uncomfortable with it, but settling into it happily upon remembering what a kind person Sasha really was.

Sasha planted a small kiss on Mikasa's cheek, making the top trainee's heart skip a beat. Was Sasha interested in her...romantically? The kiss could be interpreted as platonic, but the way Sasha held her lips on Mikasa's cheek certainly seemed to be of an amorous nature. Mikasa thought that she would be repulsed by a situation like this...but the black haired girl felt strangely comfortable with it. In fact, Sasha's lips on her cheek made her rather...happy. Mikasa actually really enjoyed the way it felt.

Sasha brought her head back from the kiss to look into Mikasa's eyes. The brunette didn't get a chance because she was almost immediately kissed on her lips by Mikasa. Sasha was surprised by this development...but considering it was what she wanted, she began to kiss Mikasa back.

Mikasa ran her hands up Sasha's back and moaned quietly before separating from the kiss. Neither of them said anything. They merely looked into each other's eyes for a few seconds before kissing each other again. This time, Mikasa rolled on top of Sasha and straddled her waist as they kissed. Feeling bold, Sasha swiped Mikasa's bottom lip with her tongue momentarily, prompting Mikasa to press her tongue into hers. They continued in this fashion for what seemed like half an hour. Sasha rubbed her tongue on Mikasa's for a few moments, inciting Mikasa to moan quietly once more before completely lowering herself onto Sasha, getting very personal with her fellow trainee. Their breasts pressed together between their pajama shirts as Mikasa separated from the kiss and looked down at Sasha, who looked up at her with a smile that emanated peace. Mikasa couldn't help but smile back at her. They began kissing again before Sasha moved her hand to Mikasa's rear and began rubbing it sensually.

"What're you..." Mikasa said in between kisses before separating once more. "What're you doing?"

"Oh...did you not want me to?..." Sasha asked, blushing in a shy manner.

"I um..." Mikasa said. "I want you to. You just...surprised me." Sasha smiled as they connected in the kiss once more. Mikasa ran a hand down Sasha's arm slowly causing Sasha's heart rate to increase more and more. Mikasa sat up and began to unbutton her pajama shirt, surprising Sasha.

"Oh. You wanted to..." Sasha said to Mikasa, who merely nodded in response. "Okay then."

"Don't worry." Mikasa said with a smile. "I locked the door." Sasha nodded happily and began to unbutton her shirt as well. Both of their breasts exposed, Mikasa leaned down close to Sasha.

"Touch me." The black haired girl said. Sasha gulped and nodded before bringing a hand to Mikasa's right breast and giving it a small squeeze. Sasha fondled Mikasa fondly, smiling up at the girl, who was moaning in pleasure. Mikasa leaned down to where her breasts were closer to Sasha's face. Sasha took this cue to take one of Mikasa's nipples into her mouth. Sasha fondly sucked on it before twirling her tongue on the areola, making Mikasa's nipple harden in her mouth. Mikasa let out a moan and arched her back. Sasha loved what she was doing. Mikasa's breasts were larger than hers, but not by much, so she knew exactly what to do with them.

After a while, Mikasa got up off of Sasha and began to pull her pajama pants down.

"Wait." Sasha said, blushing heavily.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Mikasa said. "Were you not wanting to go that far?"

"No, of course I do!" Sasha said, sitting up quickly and placing a hand on Mikasa's cheek before kissing her lips. "I just...have to prepare myself." Sasha sat back and nodded at Mikasa, who continued to pull Sasha's pants down to behold the womanhood that waited for her. Mikasa took a moment to regard the beautiful, naked feminine form that laid before her.

"What?" Sasha asked, smiling and blushing wildly.

"You just look beautiful." Mikasa said as she lowered herself to Sasha's crossed legs, which she opened. Mikasa wasted no time in dragging her tongue slowly up Sasha's wet lower lips, making the brunette squirm where she laid. Without warning, Mikasa began to suck on Sasha's slit, making her gasp and moan loudly. Sasha moaned in time with the movements of Mikasa's tongue, occasionally looking down at Mikasa, who continued to work on her. Sasha's vision was alight with fantastic feelings of pleasure and companionship as the beautiful girl she admired so much pleasured her. Mikasa slowly rubbed the inside of Sasha's thighs as she licked her. With a suppressed moan, Sasha's orgasm hit her and she squirted a small bit of her juices into Mikasa's mouth. She swallowed it and sat up.

Sasha moved forward and pulled Mikasa's pants off as quickly as she could before eagerly slipping a finger between Mikasa's folds and licking her clitoris. Mikasa was almost instantly swept away with pleasure as she sat back and grabbed the folds of the sheets on the bed. Sasha moved her finger up to rub Mikasa's g-spot as she rubbed her tongue between the folds and on Mikasa's clitoris. Mikasa couldn't hold back the loud moan that escaped her lips at that moment. Her breathing increased in pace and she looked down at Sasha. Sasha's added stimulation caused Mikasa to have an unexpectedly quick orgasm. Mikasa clenched her teeth as her ejaculate flowed into Sasha's mouth.

Just as the brunette swallowed it, Mikasa sat up rather unexpectedly and quickly.

"What are you-" Sasha began.

"Lay back and spread your legs." Mikasa said.

"Why?"

"Just trust me."

Sasha did, eagerly anticipating what form her sexual pleasure would take next. Mikasa moved closer to her and grabbed one of her legs and held it next to her chest before positioning herself between Sasha's legs to where her womanhood was inches away from Sasha's.

"What are you going to do?" Sasha asked, both excited and nervous.

"This." Mikasa said before rubbing her slit on Sasha's. Sasha jumped a little in surprise but quickly settled down, laying back and moaning.

"That's...that's nice." Sasha said as Mikasa thrust against her. Mikasa leaned down over Sasha, planting her hands beside the brunette's shoulders and looking straight into her eyes. Sasha took this second to grab a hold of the headboard of the bed and thrust back against Mikasa as the black haired girl thrust forward. They began moaning in tandem as they moved against each other, their building moisture combining to make the friction that much more unbearable. Mikasa grabbed hold of Sasha's body, pulling herself down onto the brunette. Sasha wrapped her arms around Mikasa as they moved together, moaning into her ear. Mikasa began to kiss and suck on Sasha's neck tenderly, adding to Sasha's euphoria. The movements continued for what seemed like a blissful eternity before both girls felt their peaks coming on.

"I'm getting..." Sasha moaned into Mikasa's ear. "Close."

Before she knew it, Sasha's orgasm took her as she nearly cried out before silencing herself with Mikasa's lips. When Sasha stopped moaning, Mikasa stopped thrusting.

"Wait, why did you stop?" Sasha asked Mikasa, who looked into her eyes.

"You've had your orgasm." Mikasa said before beginning to separate. Sasha quickly grabbed Mikasa's shoulders and pulled her back down onto her.

"You haven't." Sasha said with a warm smile. "Please. I want you to feel good too." Mikasa smiled at Sasha and kissed her on the cheek before beginning to thrust into her again. The two girls' pleasure began to escalate once more and not before long, Mikasa reached her climax.

"Please don't stop!" Sasha said. "I'm almost there again!" Gritting her teeth, Mikasa went on past her orgasm for a few more seconds before Sasha went over the edge once more. Mikasa's thrusting went slower and slower as they came down. When they were both finished, Mikasa pulled the sheet up over the two of them. The two girls embraced one another and kissed passionately.

"This is definitely not how I pictured this night going." Sasha said with a small laugh. Mikasa smiled and stroked her hair lightly.

"Sasha...If we're going to continue doing this...Because...I'd like to..." Mikasa said.

"As would I." Sasha said, giving Mikasa a small kiss on the lips.

"We should keep it a secret from everyone else." Mikasa continued. "I don't know the penalty for this kind of thing, but we could be expelled from the 104th."

"Yeah." Sasha said. "I understand. We should keep it a secret."

"I look forward to the future." Mikasa said to Sasha with a happy smile.

"Me too." Sasha replied.

The girls continued to talk for about half an hour, simply enjoying each other's company. Neither of them knew exactly what they were getting into, but they both were ready for whatever it was. They held each other closely and fell soundly asleep together.

**Alright! There's that chapter! There will certainly be more Sasha/Mikasa goodness, so keep an eye out!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Alrighty! Here's chapter two! Now if you're a fan of this ship and have other friends who are fans of this ship, please tell them about this story. I CRAVE REVIEWS. But in all seriousness, it would really mean a lot to me if you guys would help spread this story around. **

**Chapter 2**

Sasha moaned happily as she awoke the next morning. She brushed her face lightly with the back of her hand and looked to her side, expecting to see Mikasa laying there next to her. Her eyes widened a little to see that Mikasa had left sometime after they had fallen asleep together the previous night. But on her night stand was a small piece of paper with a heart drawn on it. It hadn't been there before. Smiling goofily, Sasha placed the small scrap of paper in her nightstand and looked at her clock. She still had an hour before she had to report to Commander Keith for the day's training.

The brunette stood and began to happily amble toward the bathroom before realizing that she was still naked from the previous night's events. She smiled fondly as she shut herself in her bathroom and stepped into the shower. Sasha sighed as the warm, soothing water played down her body. She lathered up some soap and began to scrub her body up and down until every inch of her was covered in suds. Sasha took a moment to consider the pleasurable feeling of being in the shower and wondered if she and Mikasa could take a shower together at some point, but she decided she was being too hasty and continued rinsing herself off.

After washing her hair, Sasha stepped out of the shower and dried herself off promptly with a towel before tying her hair into its usual ponytail. After spritzing some perfume on herself and using a bit of deodorant, Sasha donned her trainee uniform and left her barracks and headed to the mess hall for some well-deserved breakfast.

The breakfast wasn't anything too spectacular. Merely a piece of bread and some poorly-made eggs. But Sasha was feeling very hungry this morning, and she'd eat whatever was put in front of her. She surveyed the mess hall and upon spotting Mikasa sitting with Armin and Eren as usual, moved toward them happily and took a seat.

"Good morning!" Sasha said cheerfully as she took her seat. She looked at Mikasa for a moment and smiled happily at her. Mikasa blushed and gave Sasha a small smile and a nod.

"Good morning, Sasha." Eren said with a warm smile. "How do you feel?"

"I feel fine." Sasha said before taking a bite of her bread. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, Connie told us you looked really broken up last night, and well..." Armin said with a concerned look in his eyes.

"The Commander was just being a bigger jerk than usual last night and I was already having a bad day." Sasha said, gesturing toward the bandage on her forehead. "But I'm fine now. Seriously. Don't worry about me."

"Oh...Okay!" Eren said with a nod. "That's great to know, Sasha."

"So does anybody know what the Commander has planned for today?" Sasha asked as she swallowed yet another bite of her bread. She once again flashed a look at Mikasa, who quickly looked down at her breakfast.

"I think he's going to go easy today." Eren said. "Maybe a few combat trials and a few laps, but I heard him talking about how hard we've been working for the past month and how we deserve a break."

"I surely wouldn't mind." Armin said with a smile as he raised his glass. "Every day for the past month it's been nonstop!"

"Maybe he'll just make us clean his bathroom. Heaven knows that it probably needs it." Sasha said, prompting the group to laugh.

"Mikasa?" Eren said, noticing Mikasa's long period of silence. "Are you alright?" Mikasa didn't speak much, but she'd often throw in her viewpoint or a phrase to accompany the conversation, at least.

"I'm fine." Mikasa said, looking at Eren for a moment. "Just thinking."

"About what?" Eren asked.

"It's personal." Mikasa replied, raising an eyebrow at Eren. Sasha felt like giggling, but she held it back.

"But it would be great just to get a day of rest." Eren said. "Just not having to do anything all day..."

"It probably won't happen." Sasha said, raising an eyebrow as she bit into her bread once more. As if on cue, the Commander burst into the mess hall and walked to where he was standing before all the trainees. This was usually when he'd give the day's agenda to them.

'_Here we go. More combat training and more laps._' Sasha thought as she chewed her bread.

"You've all been working hard." Commander Keith Shadis said to them. "The work you've done is certainly commendable compared to what you used to be able to do."

"Not much more than fighting a titan's toe." Sasha barely registered Jean whisper from the back of the room.

"So today, after breakfast, you will have the day to yourselves. You've all earned it. Tomorrow we return to our exercises, so rest today as much as you can." Keith said to them. "Good work. All of you."

Sasha looked happily at Eren and Armin as they stood up and embraced each other happily. Sasha went to hug Mikasa and barely got her arms around the top trainee before she placed a restraining hand on her chest. Sasha looked at Mikasa, who raised her eyebrows slightly and smiled a bit.

"_Wait until later_." Her look said. Sasha stopped herself and nodded in understanding.

"Jean. One lap around the complex for that comment of yours." Keith said as he approached the exit of the mess hall. Jean's eyes widened heavily as he raised his hands and looked at everyone else, who laughed heartily at him. He stood and stomped toward the exit.

"Yeah, yeah...Laugh it up." Jean growled. Eren looked after him and smiled triumphantly.

"Maybe now he'll learn to keep his trap shut." Eren said. "Come on, guys. Let's go sit somewhere."

"And do what exactly?" Mikasa asked him. 

"Talk, I guess." He replied, shrugging. As they all walked out of the mess hall. "We barely get to anymore."

"I was thinking I'd study." Armin said, earning confused glances from everyone. He looked around a bid and shrugged. "I mean...I could do it later."

"Our first day off, and you want to study?" Sasha said, raising an eyebrow.

"Well...I didn't say I had to." Armin said, rubbing the back of his head and earning a laugh from everyone. Sasha and Mikasa walked behind Eren and Armin as they chatted happily. Sasha felt a small tap on her shoulder and turned to see Mikasa gesture to her barracks and inconspicuously hold out a hand with all five fingers extended.

'_Meet at my room in five minutes._' Sasha figured out almost instantly before nodding.

"Hey, guys...I think I'm gonna go ahead and go get a nap." Sasha said, stretching momentarily. "My head's still bothering me."

"Oh, okay. Are you sure?" Eren said. "We'll probably play poker or something."

"I'll catch the next game." Sasha said. "I just need to get some sleep."

"Alright." Armin said. "I hope you feel better!"

"Thanks, Armin." Sasha said as she walked back to her barracks. After Eren and Armin turned around and kept walking, Mikasa turned and watched Sasha walk toward her barracks. The brunette turned for a moment and made a motion with her hands that looked like they were going behind something.

"Go around the back." Mikasa said to herself silently before nodding and turning back toward Eren and Armin. Sasha moved quickly toward the small hut that was her barracks before shutting herself inside. She removed the small tan uniform jacket before jumping onto her bed. She sighed as she looked around the room to realize that it was a complete mess. Sasha never really was one for complete cleanliness. The brunette stood and immediately went about cleaning, placing her dirty clothes into the small hamper supplied in her bathroom and making her bed. With her room looking significantly better than it had been previously, Sasha removed her trainee boots and laid back on the bed. She stared at the ceiling a bit and sighed to herself. It had been well over five minutes at this point.

Could Mikasa just be running late? Or did she have an extraneous circumstance that kept her from coming to the room? Whatever the case, Sasha was feeling a bit drowsy, and with a small sigh, closed her eyes. If Mikasa did arrive at any point soon, she'd find Sasha sleeping as she waited for her. The longer Sasha's eyes remained closed, the more and more she drifted off. She had food on her stomach and she had the day off. It was time to relax and let all of her troubles go.

"Sasha." The brunette heard Mikasa's voice say, making her let out a small yelp and jarring her from her pseudo-slumber.

"Oh! Hey..." Sasha said as she sat up and blushed. "Five minutes my foot." 

"I'm sorry about that." Mikasa said with a small frown. "It took Eren and Armin a while to finally find a place to sit down and play their poker."

"Why'd you wait until then?" Sasha asked.

"It seemed more prudent than just coming out of nowhere to tell them I was feeling sick to my stomach." Mikasa said.

"Did anyone see you come over here?" Sasha asked Mikasa, who merely shook her head slowly.

"No." Mikasa replied. "I locked the door to my room and went out the back door before locking it. And I already told Eren to tell anyone wondering where I am not to disturb me."

"You sly one." Sasha said with a smirk as Mikasa sat down next to her. Sasha almost immediately kissed Mikasa on the cheek and wrapped her arms around Mikasa's waist from behind. She pulled Mikasa down to the bed, having Mikasa lay between her legs, placing the black-haired girl's head on her chest. "A day off...I never thought it would happen." Sasha said with a small giggle. Mikasa placed her hand on Sasha's, stroking it lightly with her fingers.

"I think the Commander feels guilty about the way he treated you last night." Mikasa said, looking down to her hand on Sasha's.

"I don't care about that anymore." Sasha said, nuzzling into Mikasa's hair. "Because I got something so great out of it." Mikasa blushed and grabbed Sasha's hand in hers.

"He was oddly silent after I finished my second extra lap." Mikasa said. "He seemed to be in deep thought after you left."

"Do you think that's why he's giving us the day off?" Sasha asked.

"Possibly." Mikasa replied. "If not just the situation with you, a combination of things. He did mention that the trainees have been working very hard."

"We have. And now we have our day off." Sasha said with a small giggle. "I'm just glad that I get to spend it with you." At this statement, Mikasa turned to where she was face to face with Sasha. They kissed tenderly for a moment, uniting their lips in a light show of affection.

"I am as well." Mikasa said after they separated. Sasha giggled quietly before kissing Mikasa once more. At first the brunette didn't give Mikasa more than a small, gentle peck. Mikasa moved forward and intensified the kiss, taking one of Sasha's lips between her own. So at Mikasa's urging, Sasha wrapped her arms underneath Mikasa's arms and up her back, pulling Mikasa closer into her embrace. Mikasa steadied herself as she moved forward with one hand before bringing a hand up to stroke the brunette's silky hair.

"Here...let me go ahead and..." Sasha said quietly before undoing her ponytail and letting her long, brown tresses fall down over her shoulders.

"It looks good like that." Mikasa said as she stroked a lock of hair from Sasha's face.

"It gets in the way..." Sasha said with a blush. "A lot." Mikasa gave Sasha a small smile before kissing her forehead.

"You should let it out more often." Mikasa said before kissing Sasha again. Sasha's arms found their place back around Mikasa's body, holding her tightly into the kiss. Sasha slowly moved down onto her back, allowing Mikasa to lay on top of her. They slowly separated from their kiss and as she moved her head back, Sasha placed a small kiss on Mikasa's cheek.

"I just feel so safe with you." Sasha said with a smile.

"Why?" Mikasa inquired, making Sasha roll her eyes.

"As if you don't know." Sasha said with a small chuckle. "You're the strongest of all of us...You're beautiful, you're smart...You could have anyone you wanted in a heartbeat."

"But I have you." Mikasa said as she lowered her head down toward Sasha's for another kiss, which the brunette accepted gratefully. "And I don't want anyone else."

"But why me?" Sasha asked, her smile forming into a straight face for a moment. "I'm so average."

"You asked me that last night." Mikasa replied, as she stroked Sasha's hair. "And if I remember correctly, I gave you plenty of examples of how you are _not_ average."

"Hmm. I guess so." Sasha said before pursing her lips momentarily. She smiled widely once again. "I'm sorry. It's just news to me so I guess I forgot. It's definitely nice to hear you say it, though."

"I wouldn't lie about it." Mikasa said as she gave Sasha one last kiss before moving and sitting up on Sasha's right side as she removed her jacket.

"Oh...ready for another go, huh?" Sasha asked with a raised eyebrow as she sat up and went to unbutton her shirt. Mikasa stopped what she was doing and slowly looked over at Sasha with a confused look in her eyes.

"I'm just feeling a little warm." Mikasa deadpanned, making Sasha's stomach drop. Her eyes widened as she immediately backed up against the wall that the bed stood against.

"Oh, my gosh. I'm so sorry. I just saw you sitting up and removing your jacket and I thought that maybe you wanted to-" Sasha began to ramble nervously before Mikasa pressed her lips against Sasha's to quiet her. Sasha blushed heavily and slowly closed her eyes. The kiss continued for a half a minute before Mikasa separated and finished removing her jacket.

"Later." Mikasa said simply before laying down on the bed once more. Sasha sighed heavily and laid down next to Mikasa. The brunette's stomach jumped when she felt Mikasa grab her hand firmly and pull her closer. Sasha happily hugged onto Mikasa and closed her eyes.

"Sasha..." Mikasa said quietly.

"Hmm?" Sasha replied, already becoming drowsy.

"Remember that we need to keep this secret..." Mikasa said, seemingly solemnly. But Sasha could have easily mistaken the natural tone of her voice.

"For...how long?" Sasha asked. "I mean, it's not that I mind or anything..."

"As long as it takes for me to find out what the policy on these kinds of relationships in our trainee regiment is." Mikasa explained. "I don't want to keep it a secret...but it's for both of our sakes."

"Oh, I know." Sasha asked. "Just kinda feels like a big effort to keep it secret all the time."

"Is it worth the effort?" Mikasa asked, looking over toward Sasha.

"It's worth everything." Sasha said, giving Mikasa a happy kiss on the cheek before closing her eyes to go to sleep.

...

Dinner was special for the trainee regiment that night. Pork chops, green beans and mashed potatoes were served as well as the usual dinner rolls. Everyone in the regiment was in high spirits and spoke with each other merrily about their respective days off. Even Eren and Jean said more than a happy word to each other. Bright candles flickered throughout the hall and everything just felt as if it was going well. Sasha sat down with Connie, Eren, Armin and Mikasa as she licked her lips at the platter before her.

"As if this day off wasn't gonna get any better!" Sasha said happily as she dug into her food.

"You're looking to be in high spirits, Sasha." Armin said with a smile. "Sleep well?"

"Better than you can imagine." Sasha said after swallowing a bite of pork chop. "What did you guys do?"

"Oh, we just walked around for a bit before going down to the river to fish." Eren said, offering a small shrug.

"Did ya catch anything?" Connie asked with an excited smile.

"No, we didn't." Eren said. "Of course it wasn't until we came back here that we found out the river was uninhabited."

"Ooh, that's gotta hurt." Sasha said as she closed an eye.

"We still had fun." Armin said happily. "That's all that matters."

"Right." Eren agreed. "Today's been great, of course, but I'm not going to lie to you all. I'm actually wanting to get back to training." This statement brought a groan of anguish out of the group. "What? What did I say?" Eren asked as he looked at everyone.

"I think you're alone in that sentiment, Eren." Mikasa said, taking a bite of her dinner roll.

"Oh, come on!" Eren contested. "You can't all tell me that you're content to just lay around and rest all day."

"I'm pretty content with it." Sasha said as she raised an eyebrow and a hand.

"I second that." Connie agreed as he took a sip from his cup and raised a hand as well.

"Armin?" Eren said to his friend, who shrugged a bit and made a so-so motion with his hand.

"I'm kind of on the fence." Armin said.

"Alright, Mikasa." Eren said with a smirk. "You're the last piece of the puzzle. Am I completely alone here?" Mikasa took a long sip of her drink before placing the cup down on the table and letting out a small sigh.

"Training is essential to our purpose, but getting the occasional rest is very important to maintain strength. Both viewpoints are legitimate." Mikasa said, taking a small bite of pork chop with her fork. "But resting _is_ fantastic."

"Ha!" Connie said, pointing at Eren. "In your face!"

"Alright, alright...I guess I am alone here." Eren said. "But getting stronger...you guys can't possibly tell me you haven't noticed yourselves getting stronger."

"Yeah, yeah I have!" Connie said enthusiastically, clenching his right hand into a fist. "I could barely lift a sack of flower before training, and now I can toss even heavier things around no problem!"

"I've noticed I've become more relevant physically." Armin said with a smile and a nod. "I still can't compare to you guys, though." Armin chuckled nervously and looked down at the table.

"You've got intellect, Armin." Eren reassured his friend, throwing his arm around his shoulders. "More than any trainee here."

"More than me, I know for sure!" Sasha said, making everyone laugh.

"And Mikasa here...man, she doesn't even have to try!" Connie said, gesturing a thumb at Mikasa, who silently chewed her green beans.

"It truly is astounding, Mikasa!" Armin said, nodding. "You excel in everything, whether it be intellect, combat skills or...anything else, really."

"Yeah." Sasha said with a wide smile as she looked at the black-haired object of her affections. "Mikasa really _is_ incredible, isn't she?" Mikasa blushed heavily at Sasha's statement and chewed her food for a few moments before swallowing it.

"I think all of you are forgetting about Sasha." Mikasa said, looking up at Sasha from her plate.

"Oh, man! You're right, Mikasa!" Connie said. "I remember when we were all having that three dimensional gear race and Sasha beat us with no problems! She even outran _me_ once!"

"I've never bested you physically, Sasha." Armin complimented Sasha, making her blush heavily.

"And your judgment in combat is pretty great too." Eren added.

"Oh, come on, stop it you guys!" Sasha said, blushing heavily through her flattery. "You're gonna make me blush."

"Too late for that." Connie said with a raised eyebrow, pointing to Sasha's face.

"We all have our strong points." Mikasa said, looking at Sasha. "We may not notice them all the time, but we should continue to acknowledge that we have them as long as we can. We are _not_ average."

"Girl makes quite the point!" Connie said with a small chuckle.

"Hey, Eren!" The group heard a voice call from across the mess hall. They turned to see Jean standing there with his arms crossed, a self-assured look on his face. "I hear you play poker."

"That I do, Jean." Eren said, standing from his seat. "Do I hear a challenge?" Eren walked toward Jean, a competitive smirk on his face.

"If you think you're man enough." Jean replied, sitting down at a round table. "Anyone else wanna join?" Jean called out to the others.

"I'm in!" Connie said, moving quickly toward the table.

"Two more seats left." Jean said. "Anyone else?"

"I suppose I'll play." Armin said, moving toward the table. "I'm not very good, though." Jean chuckled at Armin's statement and patted the table where Armin's seat was.

"It's a ruse to get us to let our guards down." Jean said. "I'm calling it right now."

"I don't know, Jean." Eren said to Jean, who's eyes widened. "I beat him pretty badly by the river today." Jean scoffed and began to shuffle his own deck of cards. 

"I still don't buy it." Jean growled suspiciously.

"I'll play." Reiner said, approaching the table and taking a seat. "This ought to be good." Sasha and Mikasa watched them from their seats. Sasha giggled at their competitive exchanges, and Mikasa merely observed the others gather around the table to observe the game.

"Is Armin really that bad at cards?" Sasha asked Mikasa quietly. Mikasa shook her head and looked over at the group.

"Armin is a master strategist." Mikasa said. "Including card games. Neither Eren nor I have ever beaten him." Sasha giggled quietly.

"I knew it." Sasha said, looking toward the game for a moment before looking back at Mikasa. "Thank you...for what you said, by the way." Sasha said quietly with a sweet smile.

"What do you mean?" Mikasa asked.

"You know...everyone was talking about how awesome they were...but then you brought up my name..." Sasha explained. "I'm just not usually bragged on like that...it meant a lot...is all I'm trying to say."

"You know, Sasha..." Mikasa said as she placed her fork down. "You're different."

"In a good or bad way?" Sasha asked, earning a raised eyebrow from Mikasa.

"Why would I say in a bad way?" Mikasa asked. "Good, of course."

"How?" Sasha asked, putting her chin in her hands and looking at Mikasa in an adorable manner that made her blush.

"Well, most people wouldn't do what you just did...Thank me." Mikasa said, looking to the side. "Most people wouldn't say anything and simply acknowledge for themselves that they're great just to make themselves feel better. Thanking me...it shows a tremendous amount of realism and modesty in your viewpoint...It's a fantastic and rare quality."

"You're just all about flattery tonight, aren't you?" Sasha asked, causing Mikasa to nervously clear her throat. "You sure know how to treat a girl right." Sasha said the last words to where only she and Mikasa could hear them. Mikasa looked up at Sasha, blushing wildly to see that Sasha was leaning across the table slightly toward her, eyes half-lidded and blushing herself.

Mikasa gulped and looked around quickly to see that everyone was watching the card game. Upon verifying this, Mikasa quickly leaned across the table and met Sasha's lips with her own in a kiss. The kiss lasted only one second before Mikasa sat back in her seat. Sasha's eyes were still widened with surprise at Mikasa's sudden kiss, but she sat back in her seat and smiled at her lover widely.

"I didn't think you'd actually do it." Sasha said, looking down at her food before flashing her eyes back up to Mikasa's for a moment.

"Well...I..." Mikasa said, struggling to speak a full sentence. Sasha giggled and stood.

"Want to go watch the game?" She asked Mikasa, who very quickly stood up and nodded. They walked toward the table side by side.

"Braus!" Sasha heard Commander Keith call from the front doors of the mess hall. "Come here for a moment." Mikasa turned to see Sasha wince. The top trainee gave Sasha a reassuring nod as she turned to see the Commander standing by the doors. Sasha nervously walked toward the doors and out of the mess hall, followed by Keith. Sasha stood where she was with a straight back, ready to receive a bombardment of yelling from Keith for whatever she had done to upset him this time.

"Sasha." Keith said, sparking Sasha's attention. He rarely ever used a trainee's first name while addressing them. "I seem to remember myself speaking extremely harshly to you last night."

"I'm alright..." Sasha said. "Sir. I was stressed and my injury on top of it just overwhelmed me, is all."

"It didn't look like that situation to me." Keith replied. "Or Mikasa for that matter."

"I'm fine, sir." Sasha said, still trying to believe that she was having this conversation with the Commander.

"Anyone could just say that." Keith said. "I would like to apologize to you. I've seen the horror of the titans firsthand...in their territory. I lost more than one hundred men during my days commanding the Survey Corps." Sasha nodded, surprised that Keith was opening up to her this way.

"Oh..." Sasha said. "I-I'm sorry, sir."

"I just...I remember each and every one of their faces." Keith said somberly, looking toward the ground. "I remember how each of them were killed...It was horrible. I just never want to see that happen to another person as long as I live." Keith continued. "I'm bound to see it again, I know this. But as long as I can make my trainees as strong as I can make them...they'll have a better chance. I tried to motivate you and I went too far. No one's death is meaningless. It's a lesson I learned long ago. Do not tell anyone we had this conversation. Dismissed." Sasha nodded and walked back into the mess hall.

She was utterly amazed at what had just happened. The man that she previously thought had no regard for her life or her ability, just opened up to her and explained for her that he did indeed hold her life in high regard. It made Sasha feel happy about everything...all the negative feelings that Sasha had inside her after the verbal abuse she received the previous night, however overshadowed they were by her new romantic companion, were now completely washed away.

Sasha merrily approached Mikasa and stood next to her to watch the poker game.

"What did he want?" Mikasa asked quietly, raising an eyebrow. "I'm through with letting him abuse you like that."

"I'll tell you about it later." Sasha said, earning a confused look from Mikasa. "It was a good thing. You don't have to worry about the Commander anymore." Mikasa nodded and looked back at the game that was underway.

"Good." She said simply.

"Who's winning?" Sasha asked.

"Reiner, currently." Mikasa said. Sasha looked at the table to see that in place of chips, there were small scraps of paper. "Jean's in second place and Eren's in third and Connie is in fourth. Armin barely has anything."

"I thought you said he was really good." Sasha said.

"He is." Mikasa said. "That's why I think he still has a trick up his sleeve."

"The papers represent chips, right?" Sasha asked, earning a nod from Mikasa. "What are they for?"

"They all agreed that the papers would represent a service whenever the user called for one. For example, if Eren wanted Jean to take his trash to the garbage chute-"

"He'd have to use a paper to get him to do it." Sasha said, looking at Mikasa, who smiled at her.

"Yes." Mikasa said with a nod. "And they agreed not to use a paper to counteract a service brought in by the other person's paper."

"Interesting." Sasha said. "Looks like they're all gonna be Reiner's slaves for the foreseeable future.

"I'm not sure." Mikasa said. "I definitely wouldn't count Armin out."

"All in." Armin said, pushing his papers toward the center of the table.

"I think he's bluffing." Reiner said with a raised eyebrow looking at Armin. The small blonde-headed boy shrugged.

"I don't know." Connie said. "He does look pretty confident. I fold."

"Same here." Eren added, placing his cards on the table.

"You couldn't fool me from the start, Armin." Jean said as he placed his cards down. Reiner, who bet all in as well, regarded Armin with a raised eyebrow.

"Alright, Armin." Reiner said confidently as he placed his cards face-up on the table. "Full house." Armin looked at the cards to see three queens and two jacks. He sighed.

"Straight flush." Armin countered, placing his cards down. Everyone playing the game's jaws dropped to see Armin lay down a six, seven, eight, nine and ten of clubs.

"No way..." Jean said in amazement as Armin raked up all the papers betted.

"Great job, Armin!" Eren said, giving his friend a thumb up.

"Wow." Reiner said, scratching the back of his head. "Well...looks like you really knew what you were doing."

"You guys did well too." Armin said with a smile.

"Alright! Dinner is over!" Commander Keith sounded from the front of the mess hall. "Report to your rooms and bed down for the night. We have an early start tomorrow morning!" The trainees all stood and headed out of the mess hall. After congratulating Armin, Sasha walked happily toward her room before Mikasa ran up quickly beside her.

"Oh!" Sasha said before placing her hand on her chest. "You startled me."

"What did Shadis say to you?" Mikasa asked.

"He...apologized to me." Sasha said with a smile and a raised eyebrow.

"He apologized?" Mikasa asked.

"Yeah." Sasha said. "You can't tell anyone, but he just told me about his days in the Survey Corps...and how he didn't want to see what he saw ever again. He just told me he got too into trying to motivate me."

"That's...surprising." Mikasa said, raising her eyebrows as they approached Sasha's door.

"It definitely took me off guard." Sasha said. "That was some game, huh? However little I saw of it..."

"I told you that Armin is a master strategist." Mikasa replied. "And the game wasn't that long anyway."

"You know, after our nap today, I'm not tired at all." Sasha said quietly, twiddling her thumbs together and leaning back against her door.

"Not tonight." Mikasa said as she leaned in and kissed Sasha quickly and inconspicuously before backing away from her. "Good night." Mikasa then turned and walked quickly back toward her barracks. Sasha sighed dreamily and opened her door, not taking her eyes off Mikasa as she walked way.

"Good night, Mikasa."

**HAHA! So there was that chapter! If you guys were wondering, I'm already planning on a sequel to this story. From what I can envision, it's going to be a retelling of the series past the training arc based on Sasha and Mikasa's romantic relationship. That means the battle of Trost until now focusing on Mikasa/Sasha! And it will probably stray at least a little from what has already been established in the series. I'll try to keep it as close to the source material as possible, though. Be sure to review and tell me what you thought of this chapter! PEACE!**


	3. Chapter 3

**So, here is the next chapter, guys! It'll probably be a longer time between updates now because I'm getting back to College and everyone knows how heavy the workload is in College. But other than that...I don't really have much to say...Blargh.**

**Chapter 3 **

"Good morning." Sasha said, waking Mikasa from her deep early-morning slumber. Mikasa opened an eye and looked at Sasha with a small smile. Sasha was always a welcome sight on the otherwise dreary mornings she'd have to wake and prepare for training.

"Good morning." Mikasa replied as Sasha sat down on the bed. "How did you get in here?"

"You think you're the only one who can sneak past someone who's sleeping?" Sasha asked, making Mikasa raise an eyebrow. "I sneak past the cook all the time to get to the kitchen.

"How often do you sneak in there exactly?" Mikasa asked, sitting up and moving her face closer to Sasha's.

"Oh, just about every other day." Sasha said, moving closer to Mikasa. "The cook is usually in a different position every time...so I have to adapt."

"And use that wonderful intuition of yours?"

"You know it."

Their lips connected in a gentle kiss that succeeded in making both of their stomach light up with good feelings. Even though it had been two and a half months since the night they had discovered their feelings for each other, their situation never failed to excite the two of them. The secrecy...the possibility of being caught. But more than anything it was the way that the two girls legitimately felt about one another.

They separated and placed their foreheads together for a moment and merely enjoyed the presence of each other. Without warning, though, Sasha jumped up off the bed and jogged in place for a quick moment.

"Well, aren't you feeling peppy today?" Mikasa said with a smirk.

"I'm ready to destroy this training route race." Sasha said. "The running part's gonna be easy. I figure that I'll only have to compete with you and Connie there. After that is the 3-D maneuver gear section where I might struggle a bit, but I feel that I've mastered the 3-D gear enough to really be a good contender."

"Have you now?" Mikasa added, nodding her head slowly.

"I can shoot through those trees easily enough, and after that, it's an obstacle course on foot to the finish." Sasha continued before seeing the look on Mikasa's face. "You know, you can laugh. It won't hurt my feelings."

"I never uttered a chuckle." Mikasa said, putting her hands up.

"You had to hold it back." Sasha said, crossing her arms. "You can laugh all you want when I win the race and get extra dinner tonight."

"That's good to know." Mikasa said. "Same goes for you, you know."

"Are you actually _accepting_ my challenge?"

"But of course." 

"But I thought that you didn't care for petty competition."

"Petty competition, no. But when I receive a legitimate challenge from _you._" Mikasa said as she stood and placed a hand on Sasha's shoulder and nearing her face to her ear, making Sasha blush. "I can't resist." Mikasa whispered before giving Sasha a tender kiss on the cheek. Mikasa then walked toward her bathroom to prepare for the day, leaving Sasha with a heavy blush on her face.

"Alright! See you out there!" Sasha said, a bright smile beaming on her face. Sasha left Mikasa's room and after making sure no one had seen her, she moved toward the area where all the trainees had gathered. She approached Eren and Armin, who were speaking to each other about the race, most likely.

"Hey, guys." Sasha said happily as she approached them. "Are you ready to get this started?"

"I suppose so." Armin said with a small shrug. "I've already resigned myself to the fact that I'm going to lose this race, so I'm just going to go through it at my own pace."

"I keep trying to tell him to go as fast as he can." Eren said, gesturing a thumb toward Armin. "I think he'll surprise himself."

"Eren, I wouldn't last a second against you. Not to mention, Connie, Sasha or Mikasa." Armin retorted with a raised eyebrow and a smirk.

"I think you should give it your all no matter what." Sasha said with a smile. "You may not win, but at least you'll know you gave it your best shot."

"Well...I guess so." Armin said as he shuffled in place.

"Alright, Armin. I'll give you a challenge." Eren said with a confident smirk. "If you can beat _me_, I'll give you my dinner."

"Oh, come on, Eren." Armin said.

"Armin, you should do it." Sasha said, nudging the blonde boy with an elbow. "Sharpen your skills, you know?" Armin sighed and pinched the bridge of his eyebrows for a moment before looking at Sasha and Eren.

"Okay, okay fine." Armin said. "But only because you pressured me into it."

"Pressured you into what?" Connie asked as he approached the three trainees before letting out a loud yawn.

"Armin is going to race me. Winner gets the other's dinner." Eren said with a small, confident nod.

"So you guys must be planning on racing _behind_ me and Sasha here." Connie said, pointing to himself and Sasha.

"Oh, is that a challenge I hear, Connie?" Sasha asked, crossing her arms and raising an eyebrow at Connie, who chuckled quietly.

"Well, it won't be much of a challenge for _me_." Connie said, leaning toward Sasha. Sasha leaned forward to where her face was inches from his.

"You. Are. On." Sasha said, furrowing her eyebrows. "I'm gonna show you what speed really is."

"Oh hello, Mikasa." Sasha heard Armin say, making Sasha stand up quickly and look to see her secret lover approaching them. Sasha smiled happily at her and tilted her head.

"Good morning, Mikasa." Sasha said sweetly, blushing lightly.

"Good morning." Mikasa replied, not even looking at the brunette. This apathy, even though it was most likely forced to maintain the illusion that they weren't anything more than co-trainees, hurt Sasha for some reason. But she got over it and approached the group again.

"Well here comes the one that's going to take the victory over everyone." Eren said. "And not everyone could claim that."

"I don't claim anything." Mikasa said before looking around. "Where's Shadis?"

"He's probably still preening himself." Connie said, making the majority of their group laugh. Connie froze in terror as Commander Keith's voice seemed to appear out of nowhere behind him.

"Here I am, Springer." Keith snarled from behind him. "Am I _preened enough?_" Connie slowly turned around and nodded with a loud gulp.

"Y-Yes, sir..." Connie stuttered.

"Good." The Commander said before leaving Connie standing there, eyes widened.

"Smooth." Sasha said quietly, leaning toward Connie, prompting him to push her away. They began to wrestle with one another until Keith's voice sounded through the complex.

"Trainees!" The Commander said. "Today, as you know, is the multi-level race that you've been preparing for the past week! You will remember that the prize for a victory today is a second dinner tonight in the mess hall. That is not a prize ordinarily given. So cherish it. To the starting line!" The trainees moved toward the starting line, Standing in an orderly fashion on it, preparing to dash forward. Sasha looked at Connie and raised an eyebrow.

"Get ready to lose." Connie said quietly.

"Please." Sasha replied. "Tell that to the dirt I'm going to kick up in your face." 

"I think my dirt is going to be in your face."

"Nice comeback." Sasha said quickly, making Connie blush and look forward.

"Ah, whatever." He said. "You're gonna lose." Mikasa, preparing herself to race against Sasha, looked over at her lover to wish her good luck. But Sasha seemed to be preoccupied with speaking to Connie. They giggled and laughed at each other in a rather flirtatious manner.

"Sasha." Mikasa whispered. Sasha didn't even seem to hear her. Mikasa, a little surprised that Sasha didn't pay attention to her. "Sasha." Mikasa repeated, still not getting a response from the brunette as she spoke to Connie. Giving up on her attempts to speak to Sasha, Mikasa let out a small huff and looked forward, trying not to let the situation bother her. But she felt a small twinge in her stomach that she couldn't quite explain.

"Eren, I really don't think I can beat you." Armin whispered.

"Armin, you'll do fine." Eren replied with a small sigh.

"Don't you dare let me win if I do." Armin said. "Which is still very unlikely."

"Just have faith in yourself." Mikasa said suddenly and sternly to Armin, surprising both Eren and Armin. "No matter what. Stop doubting yourself. It's getting old." Armin raised his eyebrows and looked at Eren.

"Tough love, Armin." Eren said before looking ahead. Armin seemed to think to himself for a moment before looking straight ahead and letting out a drawn out exhale.

"On my mark!" The Commander Barked.

"Ready!"

"Set!"

The Commander, perhaps purposefully, waited for an unbearably long time to give his final mark. Sasha's heart rate increased as she stared ahead at the first section before her. It would be a breeze for her. Running was definitely one of her strong suits. She looked at Mikasa for a moment, but she didn't seem to see her.

Was it on purpose?

Was she ignoring her?

"_GO!_" Keith nearly screamed, catching Sasha in mid thought, causing her to take off about a second later than everyone else. Mikasa and Connie were vying for the lead, with Annie following close behind. Behind the leaders with Sasha were Eren, Armin, Jean, Reiner, Ymir, Krista and the other trainees. Connie looked back at Sasha for a moment and laughed.

"See? What'd I tell you, Sasha?" Connie said. His talking made it possible for Mikasa to get a few feet in front of him, making him quickly get back into the race. Sasha, determined not to let Connie or Mikasa beat her this badly, tapped into her energy reserves and dead sprinted until she was but a few feet behind Connie. Eventually, she caught up to him and began truly competing against him for second place behind Mikasa. The running course wasn't even close to an end, and Sasha, with despair, felt her breath leaving her. That burst of speed had accelerated her fatigue and she was losing steam.

This was not good.

She had to keep pushing. Keep pushing until the running was over and she could use her 3-D maneuver gear. That would give her a breather. But she still seemed to be so far from the mark and her breathing was getting shallower and shallower. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Connie look over at her with a confident look on his face. The look seemed to be one of a friendly, competitive nature, but it also seemed to gloat at her. Sasha gritted her teeth and pushed forward, coming to be in front of Connie and closer to Mikasa's back. At last, the finish line was in sight and Sasha could begin preparing her maneuvering gear. They entered the trees and shot their cables out into the trunks of the trees and they catapulted upwards into the air, moving on to the second part of the race.

Sasha breathed heavily as she focused on what trees to shoot her cables into to gain the maximum momentum. Unexpectedly, she caught a rather powerful slingshot between two trees and catapulted to where she was neck -and-neck with Mikasa. The top trainee looked at Sasha, astonished and Sasha, in the fast motions through the trees, blew a quick kiss to her before vaulting ahead, surprising her yet again. At this point, Connie was at her position, so she switched up the trees she used to catapult forward.

Jean, who had fallen behind in the running portion, was quickly catching up to them in this section. He quickly came up behind Mikasa and Connie, a confident look on his face. Mikasa worked harder and eventually pulled ahead of Connie and Jean, coming closer to Sasha. The kiss that Sasha had blown Mikasa made her feel a little better about the Connie situation. Connie, as if on cue, vaulted ahead of Mikasa and came to Sasha's position.

"Oh, so you finally caught up, huh?" Sasha asked.

"Coming from the girl who was lagging behind for half the running course!" Connie retorted.

"That was because I was thinking about how good that second dinner's gonna be when the Commander said 'Go'! You're toast, lover-boy!" Sasha said as she and Connie continued to jostle for first place. That twinge shot through Mikasa again and she let out a small growl to herself.

What was that feeling?

It was jealousy 

At this point, Jean had caught up to Mikasa. Thankfully, the 3-D maneuvering section of the race was about to end and they all touched down onto the ground and continued to run. This allowed Mikasa to catch up to Sasha and Connie, who jeered at each other playfully still. They came toward a rather long, drawn-out obstacle course. The first one being a series of holes they had to leap around. Connie and Sasha leapt over the holes as they strode easily enough, but Mikasa was able to vault over them with such precision and skill, that she was able to catch up to them by the time the obstacle was over. Next was a climbing wall with ropes and absolutely no areas for footholds. The three first-place contenders began to climb. Letting out a small surprised cry, Connie's foot slipped and he was left hanging by the wall for a moment before resuming, allowing Sasha and Mikasa to move ahead. Sasha couldn't hold back a laugh.

"Oh, come on!" Connie said as he climbed up after them. "That's just not fair!"

"Life's not fair, Connie!" Sasha replied as she and Mikasa leapt over the wall and landed on the other side, shortly followed by Connie. Reiner had caught up to them and was quickly gaining on Connie. Mikasa and Sasha then came to long pipes they had to crawl through. They jumped into them and crawled through in a matter of seconds before coming out on the other side. They then arrived at a balancing area where there were two thin boards they'd have to balance on as they walked over a six foot deep hole. Sasha and Mikasa, competing solely against each other at that moment, walked onto the adjacent boards.

In a short moment of overconfidence, Sasha slipped and began to fall back.

"Mikasa!" She said quickly, reaching a hand out. Mikasa, hearing Sasha's cry, instantly shot her hand out and grabbed Sasha's, pulling her back up to balance on the board. Sasha smiled happily at Mikasa for a moment and Mikasa smiled at Sasha. At that moment, everything felt alright between the two of them. It was a quick moment, however, as they got back to racing each other. The final obstacle was a series of swinging ropes that, unless one used perfect timing, they would fall into the mud. Connie had caught up to Sasha and Mikasa at this point as they swung through the ropes. They arrived at the other side and made a mad dash for the finish line. Mikasa pulled ahead of Sasha and Connie, and crossed the finish line. Mikasa, happy that Sasha was able to hold her own so well, looked over at her.

"Congratulations, Sash-"

"HA!" Sasha said, breathing heavily and bending over before pointing at Connie. "I...beat you!" Mikasa sighed heavily and rolled her eyes.

"No you didn't!" Connie said, falling onto his backside. "I crossed that line before you did!"

"Yeah, in your dreams!" Sasha cried out.

"I guess we'll just find out, won't we?" Connie said, standing up as the other trainees crossed the finish line. After about three minutes, every trainee was across and the Commander began his announcement of the placing of the race.

"The first place winner: Mikasa Ackerman." Keith announced.

"Great job, Mikasa!" Sasha said amongst all the congratulations, making Mikasa smile and nod in appreciation.

"Tied for second place: Sasha Braus and Connie Springer!"

"What?!" Connie cried. "We tied? Guess we're just too awesome to best each other." Sasha, feeling a sudden burst of happiness that she could hold her own in the race so well, swept Connie up into a large hug and spun around with him in her arms. Connie laughed heartily.

"Third place: Reiner Braun, Fourth Place: Armin Arlert, Fifth Place: Eren Yeager..."Jean, now covered in mud, grumbled in frustration. Sasha turned to Armin and shot him a raised thumb, making him smile and nod at her as Eren patted his shoulder. "Sixth: Jean Kirstein, Seventh: Annie Leonhart..." As the commander read out the rest of the names, Sasha took a moment to look up at the sky and sigh. She had just proven herself to be a viable contender around all the other trainees that she had previously thought to be better than her in every way.

Perhaps Mikasa was right. Perhaps she could make it into the top ten by the time they graduated.

Sasha looked over at Mikasa and smiled at her, Mikasa smiling back happily. Shadis finished reading off of the list and addressed the trainees.

"Alright! Good work today! Now report to the combat training field for hand-to-hand practice." Commander Keith said.

"Sasha, hey..." Connie said, approaching Sasha as they walked, earning the brunette's attention. "I just wanted to tell you how awesome you were in that race. I mean...you really killed it back there." Sasha blushed , feeling extremely flattered. She placed a small kiss on his cheek.

"You too, Connie." Sasha replied, giggling at the massive blush on Connie's face.

Little did Sasha know that Mikasa had seen the kiss...And she was not happy about it at all.

...

Dinner was, as always, a welcome reprieve from the stress of training and Shadis' constant barking orders. Sasha ate and laughed along with Eren, Armin and Connie. Mikasa didn't laugh. She merely ate her food and sat quietly, occasionally playing with her food for a while.

"And that's when I'm looking ahead, and Jean is getting so into it swinging back and forth and then he just..." Eren laughed, having to place his fork down next to his plate. "Jean just falls face first into the mud!" The entire group broke out into mad laughter. Jean scowled at the table from across the mess hall.

"You know, it could have happened to anyone!" Jean shouted angrily.

"Yeah, but it happened to you!" Connie cried out between guffaws.

"Oh, come on, Jean." Sasha said. "Lighten up! We're just teasing you." 

"Yeah, whatever." Jean snarled.

"It's your fault that you're taking it so seriously." Eren said as he turned back to the table. He noticed Mikasa just staring down at her food blankly.

"Mikasa, you alright?" Eren asked her. Mikasa immediately looked at him and nodded.

"Yes, I'm fine."

"You seem to have been lost in thought a lot lately." Armin said as he raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure you're alright? That nothing's bothering you?" 

"I'm alright!" Mikasa said louder than she had planned to. She then softened her tone significantly. "Thank you for your concern." She looked down at her plate and continued to eat.

"No problem." Eren said, looking at Armin. Armin merely shrugged before taking a bite of food. Sasha looked at Mikasa, concerned for her lover's well being. She wondered whether or not she had anything to do with Mikasa's current state. The two girls had worked out a system for when they needed to talk to each other. When one of them would leave dinner early, that signified that she wanted to talk to the other. Sasha, deciding to talk to Mikasa and make her feel better about whatever was troubling her, quickly finished her food, stood and stretched.

"Well, I think I'm going to go turn in." Sasha said. "I'm tired."

"Aw, come on." Eren said. "Why don't you stay a bit longer?" 

"I would, but seriously, I'm just bone tired." Sasha said. Mikasa looked up from her plate at her. Sasha subtly raised her eyebrows at the top trainee before looking back at Eren once again. "Definitely tomorrow, okay?"

"Oh, alright." Eren said. "Good night."

"Sleep well." Armin said. Sasha turned to leave and walked through the front doors of the mess hall. She was almost to her room before she heard Connie call from behind her.

"Hey! Sasha!" He said. "Wait up!" Sasha, a little surprised that Connie had followed her out of the mess hall, turned to see him jogging up to her.

"Oh, hey Connie." Sasha said. "What is it?"

"Well I...Uhm...Well." He said, looking to the side. "Um, how ya doing?" Sasha let out a small chuckled and nodded.

"I'm fine." Sasha said, still chuckling a bit. "But I'm really tired. So I'm just gonna-"

"Wait." Connie said, moving up to her. "I...Well, I..."

"Come on, Connie spit it out." Sasha said with a smile.

"I've never been good with words...but I just...I...I like you. A lot." Connie said with a huge blush, making Sasha blush as well in surprise.

"Oh..." Sasha merely said in response.

"And I have for a while. It just took me until today to work up the courage to tell you." Connie continued. "I just wanted to ask you...um...would you be my girlfriend?" Connie's blush looked as if it was turning his face into a tomato. Sasha smiled sweetly.

"Oh, Connie." Sasha said. "You're so sweet. Really you are." Connie looked at her hopefully.

"But I don't feel the same way about you." Sasha said. "I love being your friend. You're probably one of my best friends here. And I do love you as a friend...But I don't see you as anything more than that."

"Oh..."

"And besides...I love someone else." Sasha said, blushing and looking down. "I'm sorry."

"It's fine." Connie said with a smile. "I just figured I'd talk to you about it and see how you feel." 

"No hard feelings?" Sasha asked.

"God, no." Connie said. "You kidding me?" Sasha smiled widely and gave Connie a sweet hug, pulling him close to her.

"Thank you." Sasha said, snuggling her head into the crook of Connie's neck. Connie smiled and hugged her back.

"Don't mention it." He said before Sasha separated. "So who is it?"

"I...well..." Sasha said nervously.

"Oh, come on." Connie scoffed, raising an eyebrow.

"I...really can't tell you." Sasha said. "I can't tell anyone at all." Connie looked at her for a moment and brought his hands up.

"Alright, alright." Connie said before heading toward his room. "I won't pry. Good night!" He gave her a small friendly wave.

"Good night, Connie." Sasha replied sweetly, sending a wave toward her friend before heading into her room.

Mikasa, who had watched the whole conversation from in front of the mess hall felt deeply hurt. Because in the dark of the night, in the shadow of the small building. That friendly hug happened to look very much like a romantic kiss.

...

A light knock resounded from Mikasa's back door, jarring her from her sleep. Mikasa sighed heavily and walked toward the door before opening it to reveal Sasha, a confused and slightly angry eyebrow raised. Sasha walked inside and turned around to regard Mikasa, who merely stared at her blankly.

"What's wrong?" Sasha asked. "You didn't show up at my room."

"Nothing's wrong." Mikasa said as she walked back toward her bed. "Go back to your room, Sasha."

"I know that's not true." Sasha replied, moving closer to the bed. "You're just shutting me out for some reason."

"There's no reason, I just want to be alone."

"Stop lying."

"I'm not."

"Stop it!" Sasha nearly yelled.

"I'm not." Mikasa replied simply, not even looking at Sasha. Sasha, hurt by Mikasa's coldness, crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes.

"Then why the hell did you let me in?" Sasha asked, prompting Mikasa to turn around on her bed and stand up, walking toward Sasha.

"If you really want to know that badly, I'll tell you." Mikasa said angrily. "I've been watching you and Connie all day long. It's so obvious you're with him on the side that it makes me sick." Sasha had to take a moment to comprehend what Mikasa had just said to her.

"_...What?..._" Sasha said, her tone rising to one of disbelief.

"You flirt all the time. And you didn't think I saw that quick little kiss on his cheek, did you?"

"That was just me being a friend!" Sasha replied, her eyes widening. "I can't believe you're even saying this!"

"I know you're lying to me." Mikasa replied. "I saw you two tonight."

"What the hell did you think you saw?" Sasha asked. "Mikasa, you're not thinking straight!"

"I saw you kiss Connie outside your room. The way you waved goodnight to him." Mikasa said getting closer and closer to Sasha, who merely stood in place and angrily stared back at her. Sasha was extremely hurt and surprised by what Mikasa was saying. She tilted her head to the side slightly and didn't take her eyes off Mikasa's.

"You really think I'd do something like that?" Sasha asked quietly.

"I didn't think you would." Mikasa replied. "But I guess I was wrong."

"So that's the way this is going to be?" Sasha said, seemingly resigning herself to the situation. "You want to know what really happened?"

"You're just going to throw an excuse at me aren't you?" Mikasa replied

"Connie told me that he has feelings for me. But I stopped him..." Sasha said, clenching her hands into fists. "And I told him that I love someone else." Mikasa, speechless, looked at Sasha, who was visibly angry. Sasha immediately walked out of Mikasa's room and slammed the door, leaving Mikasa to sit back on her bed and ponder what Sasha had just said to her.

"Love?" Mikasa whispered to herself before falling back onto her bed. "Sasha...Loves me?" Mikasa stayed awake for hours, unable to sleep due to the prospect of what she had just heard.

But more than anything, it was the horrible mistake she knew that she'd made that kept her awake.

**AN: Be sure to tell me what you thought in a review! I love reviews so much! PEACE!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello, everyone! It's been a while, I know, but I am up to my hair in things for college. I am a theatre education/theatre performance double major, so I have to put in a certain amount of hours in the shop helping to build the set (Which currently is for **_**Little Shop of Horrors. **_**I am in the ensemble.). This, as well as rehearsals, work and assignments for classes keep me busy for a good amount of my days. But I try to write at least 500 words a day because this is something that gives me comfort in times of stress. (Which, let's be honest, in college there is a plentiful amount.) I hope you guys aren't too dissatisfied with my infrequent update times. **

**Chapter 4 **

Mikasa stepped out of the shower the next morning and used her towel to dry off her hair. She slowly and methodically brushed her teeth, the events of the previous night plaguing her mind. It was all she could think about. Under the worst possible circumstances, she had found out that Sasha Braus, the girl that she had come to care a great deal about, did in fact love her. And she quite possibly felt the exact same way. Miserably, Mikasa left her bathroom and donned her trainee uniform before wrapping her scarf around her neck. In contrast to her usual graceful and lithe walk, she tromped toward her door and left her room, heading to the usual meeting place outside the mess hall. She had woken up so late that she had missed breakfast.

Upon inspection of the group, she noticed that Sasha was absent from Eren and Armin's side, instead electing to spend time with Connie. As Mikasa approached, Connie saw her and waved with a genuine smile, prompting Sasha to look at who he was waving at. When the brunette turned around and saw Mikasa, she scowled for a moment. Mikasa sent a small wave their way, raising her eyebrows. Connie took it as a returning of his friendly gesture, but Sasha couldn't have cared any less. She turned around and resumed talking to Connie. Mikasa sighed and stood next to Eren, looking at the ground ahead of her solemnly.

"Good morning, Mikasa." Armin said cheerfully.

"Good morning." Mikasa replied, looking at her friend momentarily.

"How did you sleep?" Eren asked her.

"As well as I could." Mikasa responded to her adoptive brother. "Under the circumstances." Mikasa did not mean to utter that last part of her sentence.

"What do you mean?" Armin asked, raising an eyebrow. "What circumstances?"

"Shadis is just working me harder than usual lately." Mikasa said quickly, coming up with a lie on the spot. "I suppose he wants to test my skills more, but it feels almost as if it's unfair treatment compared to you guys."

"Well, you are faster and stronger than any of us." Eren said. "I'd just see it as training more on your level."

"I suppose you're right." Mikasa replied as she looked over at Sasha, who to her knowledge had not looked at her once since her initial greeting. Mikasa's stomach heated up in a rather unpleasant manner when she thought of what she could have lost the previous night. She had been too quick to judge and now she was paying for it. Commander Shadis walked out of the mess hall and addressed the trainees.

"Alright, trainees!" Shadis said. "The morning run will start in fifteen minutes! Gather anything you think you may need today and report to the starting spot. We'll not be returning to this area until much later this afternoon." Mikasa, needing nothing for the day, merely watched all the trainees move to gather ointments, canteens and other useful things for the day's training. Her eyes drifted once again to Sasha, who appeared to be heading back to her room. Realizing that this was a moment she could use to patch things up, Mikasa quickly followed Sasha toward the barracks.

"Sasha!" Mikasa called out when she was certain they were out of earshot of any of the other trainees. Sasha stopped in her tracks for a moment before continuing to walk.

"I don't want to talk to you." Sasha merely said before continuing toward her room.

"Sasha, please." Mikasa said quickly, coming up behind Sasha, who turned slowly to face her. An annoyed look on her face, Sasha crossed her arms and regarded the top trainee.

"Fine. What do you want?" Sasha asked.

"I wanted to apologize-" Mikasa began.

"Oh, give me a break." Sasha said, throwing her head back for a quick moment before looking away from Mikasa.

"Would you please at least hear me out?" Mikasa replied. Sasha looked at Mikasa and sighed. "I wanted to apologize to you for last night."

"Yeah, you said that already."

"The way I acted was unacceptable."

"You think so?"

"I was close-minded and jealous. I should have thought more of the repercussions of my actions before addressing it." Mikasa continued. "I...I should have talked to you first."

"Look, I'm not hurt by what you said." Sasha replied. "It hurt me that you came to the conclusion that I was being two-faced so quickly. What previous evidence have you seen that could make you come to that conclusion?"

"None." Mikasa said.

"Exactly. How do I know you won't do the same thing again if I forgive you?"

"Because I promise-"

"Can you show me any real evidence that you won't?" Sasha interrupted her. "That you won't make those snap judgments anymore?"

"I...I don't suppose I can." Mikasa said, lowering her head for a moment. "But that is why I want to apologize."

"Apologies are just talk." Sasha said scornfully. "I really don't want to talk to you. I'm sure you can respect that. So kindly leave me alone." Sasha turned to enter her room and Mikasa continued to follow her.

"Sasha, please-"

Sasha shut her door right in Mikasa's face. Mikasa sighed heavily and turned around before returning to the front of the mess hall, her heart breaking. She was almost certain at this point that she had destroyed what she had with Sasha. Unbeknownst to her, Sasha stood with her back against her door breathing heavily, her heart breaking as well.

...

The morning run began as usual. All trainees lined up across the starting line and began their five-lap tromping around the complex. Eren and Jean spouted competitive gibberish toward each other as usual and Armin merely watched them with disappointment. Mikasa didn't bother to lead the troupe that day, instead electing to stay beside Sasha the whole time. Mikasa's reasoning for this was sound enough. If Sasha didn't want to interact with her, Mikasa would show her that she did care until the brunette would at least attempt to talk to her. Mikasa kept attempting to make eye contact with Sasha, but never once saw Sasha looking back. This annoyed Mikasa. She could completely understand why Sasha was doing this, but she was annoyed nonetheless. She scolded herself silently, knowing that she had no room whatsoever to be annoyed.

"What, are you two going to race or something?" Ymir asked as she came up beside Mikasa.

"I beg your pardon?" Mikasa replied.

"You and Sasha." Ymir continued. "You keep running next to her and looking at her over and over again, like you're both going to race or something."

"Yeah, we were." Sasha said suddenly, surprising Mikasa.

"We are?" Mikasa asked.

"Yeah. Why not?" Sasha said, giving a seemingly genuine smile to Mikasa. But underneath the smile, Mikasa sensed Sasha's anger. "What's wrong with a little competition? Once around the compound." Mikasa sighed and nodded.

"I suppose...A race couldn't hurt." Mikasa said nervously. "Whenever you're ready, Sasha."

"Ready...Set...GO!" Sasha said quickly, immediately dashing forward ahead of Mikasa. Mikasa debated what to do in this situation. If she went ahead and beat Sasha, she might become even angrier at her. But seeing as how she seriously doubted that Sasha was that immature, Mikasa decided to give the race everything she had. She began to run as quickly as she could, completely confident that she'd come up ahead of Sasha. But to her utter surprise, Sasha stayed at least three feet ahead of her the entire time. The brunette moved quickly and with grace, her legs pumping back and forth to propel her forward. Mikasa breathed heavily so as to allow herself to access her reserves of energy, but for some reason it still wasn't enough. Sasha maintained her lead on Mikasa.

"What's wrong, Mikasa?" Sasha asked between breaths, seemingly scornfully. "Off your game today?" Mikasa did not reply to Sasha's query, instead electing to continue the race. It bothered her to no end however. What was Sasha's goal in this? What was her intention? To humiliate her? To make her work for her forgiveness? None of these options seemed to fit who Sasha was as a person, which made it all the more maddening for Mikasa to try to figure out. All around the compound, no matter how hard Mikasa tried, Sasha stayed ahead of her. As they came around, Sasha received cheers from the other trainees as she surprised them all by beating Mikasa, the top trainee in the regiment. The two girls came back to a jogging pace with the rest of the group.

"Well, well, well!" Jean said with a wide smirk. "Looks like the underdog takes this one."

"Well done, Sasha!" Armin added. "I must admit, I'm surprised! I haven't seen anyone beat Mikasa at...well...anything."

"Oh, well thank all of you very much." Sasha said before flashing a smug look at Mikasa, making anger stir within her. She wasn't just being jealous...was she? No, of course she wasn't. Sasha was knowingly flaunting her victory in Mikasa's face... or perhaps Mikasa really was imagining it. Perhaps Sasha was right. Perhaps she was, in fact, prone to jealousy.

After the run, Commander Keith took the trainees to the nearby forest to train with their three-dimensional maneuver gear. He didn't exactly care as much about what the trainees did up in the trees, so long as they used their gear for the majority of their time. Sasha zipped around the large branches, dodging them with ease, showing her speed off to many of the trainees around them. Connie flew alongside her, a fact that caught Mikasa's eye. Connie and Sasha competed, shouting certain taunts back and forth as they moved.

"You got lucky during that race, Sasha." Connie said, smirking widely. "I'm twice the 3-D gear user you'll ever be!"

"Oh really?" Mikasa said as she landed on a branch, followed by Connie. "Would you care to test that out? Here and now?" Curious, Mikasa perched on a branch above the two trainees and watched them interact.

"You bet!" Connie replied, crossing his arms and confidently shutting his eyes. "Just name your challenge."

"Okay." Sasha said before giving Connie a small shove. "You're it!" Dumbfounded, Connie stood for a half a second before taking off in hot pursuit of Sasha. The brunette whipped easily through the trees, followed closely by her pursuer and Mikasa, who decided to maintain a decent height over them. As they zipped through the trees, Connie spotted Eren and Armin standing next to each other on a tree branch talking. Connie sped toward them and tapped Armin on the shoulder.

"You're it, Armin!" Connie said before moving away quickly.

"Connie, are you sure Shadis would allow us to..." Armin began before realizing that Eren had taken off as well. Armin sighed heavily and began to pursue Eren, gaining on him gradually. Mikasa chuckled silently at what she observed of the game. She felt a small desire to join in, despite her judgment telling her otherwise. Armin surprised Eren from below, tagging him. Eren groaned and laughed before beginning to chase after the others. Eventually Eren, to his and Sasha's surprise, was able to get the drop on Sasha, tagging her. Sasha laughed and began to chase after Eren. Mikasa dropped down to Sasha's side as she chased Eren. Sasha looked over at her and Mikasa offered her a kind smile. Sasha frowned angrily at Mikasa and continued on the course she was on. Mikasa, resigning to the fact that Sasha wasn't going to include her, landed on a tree branch up high and sat down on it. It wasn't like her to give up, but it seemed hopeless at this point to reach out to Sasha.

Sasha looked to her side once more and noticed that Mikasa wasn't there anymore. Curious as to whether or not Mikasa had truly given up, she turned around. After about half a minute of searching, Sasha found Mikasa, sitting where she was with a hopeless look on her face. Sasha touched down beside Mikasa, who immediately began to sit up.

"Sasha, I-" Mikasa said.

"Mikasa...just don't." Sasha said. "I don't think you remember our talk this morning." They sat there in silence for a moment, not looking at each other.

"Then why are you still here?" Mikasa asked.

"I...I don't know." Sasha replied, blushing heavily and looking away from Mikasa.

"Tell me the truth." Mikasa said, looking over at Sasha. "Please, Sasha. Tell me."

"I...I'm here because...well...I...I want you to apologize." Sasha returned Mikasa's gaze. "Very badly." Mikasa's stomach lit up at this new, unexpected development. This was her opportunity and she was going to seize it.

"Sasha..." Mikasa said. "I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me last night. I'm very...possessive over what I cherish and well...I cherish you. So when I thought that you and Connie were seeing each other on the side, it hurt me. Badly."

"But I wasn't." Sasha replied. "You should've known better than that. You should've talked to me at the very least."

"I know. I know." Mikasa said. "I was making snap judgments that weren't mine to make. I just didn't want to lose you."

"Well you went about it in the worst way." Sasha said.

"I did at that." Mikasa said. "I could've just went at Connie with a frying pan, you know. God knows he's been through worse." Both the girls laughed, looking away from each other for a moment before making eye contact once again.

"Sasha...I can't stand the way it feels not being with you...Not talking to you..." Mikasa said, bringing a hand toward Sasha's shoulder, to which she moved away from slightly, ceasing Mikasa's movements.

"How do I know you won't do the same thing again?" Sasha asked, a timid and worried look in her eyes.

"You've seen me in combat training, right?" Mikasa asked. After receiving a small nod from Sasha, she continued. "Do you remember my spar with Annie?"

"Yes." Sasha said.

"Use that wonderful intuition of yours." Mikasa said. "How did I fight? How did I defend and attack as the fight went along?"

"You...Never made the same mistake twice." Sasha said, a small smile forming on her face.

"You'll never feel like you did last night again while we're together." Mikasa said. "I promise." Mikasa brought her lips to Sasha's tenderly, placing a hand on Sasha's cheek. Sasha softly placed a hand over Mikasa's as they kissed. They separated slowly and looked lovingly into each other's eyes.

"I'm so glad this happened." Sasha said happily.

"Me too." Mikasa said with a smile.

"There's only one thing left to do at this point." Sasha said, tilting her head adorably to the side.

"What would that be?" Mikasa asked before Sasha tapped her shoulder lightly.

"You're it!"

...

The game of tag went fantastically and eventually got many of the trainees to join in. Even Jean played for a few minutes before tagging someone and leaving the game. Eren, Armin, Connie, Sasha and Mikasa all walked together out of the forest once they got the announcement that the training was over. Sasha and Mikasa found it hard not to look at each other as they walked, but eventually worked up the countenance to look away from each other for more than a minute.

"That game was a blast!" Eren said happily as they moved. "Who started it?"

"It was all Sasha." Connie said. "I told her to challenge me, but she started a game of tag instead. It just kinda evolved from there."

"Great idea, Sasha." Armin said. "We all sorely needed that."

"It was a breath of fresh air, for sure." Mikasa added, smiling at Sasha, who blushed and rubbed the back of her head.

"Oh, thank you very much." Sasha said. "It just sort of came to me."

"Well, I'm glad it did." Eren said.

"As am I." Armin added.

"Well, now it's off to combat training." Connie said, seemingly eagerly anticipating the challenge. "Who are you guys going to spar with?"

"I think I'll spar with Marco today, if he's up to it." Eren said. "I haven't gone against him yet."

"I'll probably go against Bertolt." Armin said. "We've sparred before, but it didn't really become much other than a theoretical discussion. What about you, Mikasa?" 

"I don't know." Mikasa said. "Perhaps Reiner."

"What about me?" Sasha asked. "We've never gone against each other." The brunette earned surprised glances from everyone, including Mikasa. Sasha looked around for a moment, before shrugging. "What?"

"You want to go against Mikasa?" Connie asked her.

"Sure, why not?" Sasha replied.

"Not even Annie can beat Mikasa." Eren said.

"That's fine. Mikasa will probably beat me too." Sasha said with a smile. "I just want to see how long I can last. Mikasa? Would you be up for that?" 

"I suppose." Mikasa said. "You are right. We've never gone against each other before."

"There. It's settled then."

"Alright, Sasha." Connie said with a small chuckle. "It's your funeral." After the short walk to the training grounds was over, Sasha and Mikasa stood together for a moment, watching Eren duel with Marko. Eren seemed to be winning steadily, although Marko did well for himself all the same. Armin was dueling Jean and losing terribly.

"I wish Jean would go a little easier on Armin." Sasha said, crossing her arms and furrowing her eyebrows. "He should pick on someone his own size."

"It was Armin who challenged Jean." Mikasa said, looking at Sasha with a small smile. 

"I know, I know." Sasha said. "It just...bothers me for some reason seeing Armin getting taken out like that."

"You get used to it." Mikasa stated. "What he lacks in strength, he more than makes up for in intelligence."

"That's for sure." Sasha agreed. "I'd bet that if he and Jean were battling through tactics, Armin would wipe the floor with him." 

"Most likely." Mikasa said, nodding subtly.

"Braus! Ackerman! What are you doing?" Commander Keith shouted at them, sparking their attention. "I want to see you two sparring!" Sasha and Mikasa faced each other. Mikasa worriedly looked at Sasha, who looked to be ready to spar.

"Sasha...are you sure about this?" Mikasa asked. "I don't know how much you can take."

"You yourself told me that I'm stronger than I give myself credit for." Sasha replied getting into a battle stance. "I think it's time I found out about that."

"Very well."

"Don't you _dare_ go easy on me." Sasha said confidently with a smile. 

"I never do." Mikasa replied before launching herself at Sasha. And throwing light spar blows her way. Sasha dodged them easier than Mikasa anticipated, prompting the top trainee to change her battle style. Mikasa grabbed Sasha and pulled her close to her, attempting to get her down onto the ground into a hold, but Sasha was able to wrench herself free and pepper Mikasa with a few spar blows. Mikasa jumped back, utterly surprised by Sasha's hidden battle prowess.

"I'm impressed." Mikasa said, smiling at her lover.

"You're not going easy on me, are you?" Sasha asked.

"I assure you I'm not." Mikasa said with a small nod. "You're much better than I thought you were." Sasha frowned for a moment.

"Huh...Guess I look pretty weak." Sasha mumbled.

"I wouldn't say weak. I'd say..." Mikasa said. "Unassuming."

"That's just a fancy way to say average." Sasha replied.

"I suppose you're right about that." Mikasa said.

"Oh. Well, then." Sasha said, tilting her head slightly and raising an eyebrow.

"Not that you're an average looking girl...I...I just meant..." Mikasa said, blushing and realizing what she had just said to Sasha. "You're very attractive..." In the midst of Mikasa's stuttering, Sasha was able to move in and begin throwing strikes Mikasa's way, which she was barely just able to dodge and block. They threw strikes back and forth, dodging and blocking in a sort of rhythm that went along like a smooth song. Sasha was elated that she was actually this skilled in comparison to the top trainee in the complex. Mikasa, while happy that Sasha was able to spar with her so efficiently, began to feel self-conscious. A group of trainees were beginning to spectate the sparring match and they seemed to have profound reactions to the fact that Sasha was lasting so long. Mikasa watched the blows Sasha unleashed intently and found a small, but exploitable opening. Mikasa launched a palm into Sasha's chest, making the brunette stumble back. She looked to be mildly stunned, which frightened Mikasa.

"Are you alright?" Mikasa asked, her eyes widening slightly.

"I'm fine!" Sasha said before quickly jumping back into the spar. "Let's go!" Sasha began to increase her speed exponentially, using perception that seemed to border on precognition to dodge and parry Mikasa's strikes. Of course, each strike was blocked and parried by Mikasa as well. It all continued in a sort of vicious cycle...Until Sasha actually managed to get a strike off on Mikasa. She was able to follow up with another few small strikes before Mikasa dodged out of the way. The spectators gasped at this development, several of them commenting on Sasha's skills. Mikasa, seeing Sasha stumble forward slightly, moved forward quickly and grabbed Sasha in a hold. Sasha resisted the hold, moving her legs to where she couldn't be thrown onto the ground.

"Come on, Mikasa." Sasha said. "Don't go easy on me."

"I'm...not." Mikasa replied, continuing to attempt to get Sasha onto the ground.

"Give me everything you have, Mikasa!"

Mikasa strained against Sasha's legs.

"Now!"

With a small cry, Mikasa unleashed her reserves of strength and pushed Sasha down to where her legs slipped and they both fell onto their sides. Sasha's arm was below the two of them as they both fell onto it.

There was a pop.

Sasha screamed in agony, making Mikasa jump off of her as quickly as possible. Sasha rolled over, letting the pressure off of her now broken arm. Mikasa's heart sank as tears instantly filled her eyes. She immediately got down on her knees next to Sasha as she screamed. She tried to find a place to lay her hands on Sasha's writing body, but her frayed nerves and buzzing mind prevented her from doing so.

"Sasha! Sasha, I'm so sorry!" Mikasa said frantically, tears leaking down her face. "Sasha, oh God!" Commander Keith instantly leaped forward and came to Sasha's aid, moving Mikasa out of the way.

"Ackerman, what have you done?" The Commander said. "Your punishment will be severe!"

"_No!_" Sasha cried through her pain, tears in her eyes. "_Mikasa did nothing wrong. She didn't mean to. Do not punish her._" The Commander quickly looked at Reiner and gestured to him.

"Reiner! Help me lift her! She has to go to the infirmary _now!_" The Commander yelled, prompting Reiner to launch into action, moving up to Sasha and assisting in carrying her toward the infirmary. Eren ran to Mikasa, who walked behind the Commander and Reiner frantically.

"Mikasa!" Eren said, shocked by the sudden development. "Mikasa, what the hell happened?"

"I broke her arm." Mikasa said as she wiped her face to no avail as tears continued to stream down her cheeks.

"How?" Eren said as Armin and Connie caught up to them.

"We were sparring and I threw her down the wrong way." Mikasa said. "I'm such a fool."

"You didn't mean it, Mikasa." Armin said, attempting to place a hand on his friend's shoulder. Mikasa quickly pulled her shoulder away from his hand.

"It _is_ all my fault." Mikasa said angrily. "I shouldn't have been so rough with her."

"Mikasa, it couldn't be helped!" Eren said as they approached the infirmary. Mikasa hated herself at that moment. She had just regained the relationship that she thought she had lost with Sasha, and she had broken her arm so shortly afterwards. The trainees were instructed to wait outside and were eventually approached by Reiner.

"Her arm's definitely broken." Reiner said with a sigh. "They'll have to set it."

"You mustn't blame yourself, Mikasa." Armin said, still attempting to console Mikasa.

"Then who is to blame?" Mikasa said. "It was me who threw her down."

"Actually, Sasha wanted me to give you a message, Mikasa." Reiner said to the top trainee, who instantly gave him her attention. "She said 'Good spar'."

...

"We have set the arm and it is now in a cast." The doctor said to Commander Keith, the Commander solemnly standing before him with his arms crossed. "It will be at least three months until she recovers."

"Would you recommend that she engage in any training at all?" Commander Keith asked quietly.

"For the first week, no." The doctor said to him. "She must rest so that her bones can set about mending. After the first week, she may engage in any training not involving use of her arms."

"Very well. Thank you, doctor." Shadis said with a nod as the doctor went to return to Sasha. The Commander returned to the trainees and stood firm to address them.

"Sasha will be alright. It will take roughly three months for her arm to heal." Commander Keith said. "She will require bed rest for the first week, and she'll be able to resume training. Nothing to do with the arms, however. So she'll most likely only be running."

"What about 3D maneuvering training?" Connie asked the Commander. "That doesn't have to do with the arms."

"Perhaps later on in her healing process. But for at least the first month, it will only be running." Commander Keith said. "Training period is over. Dismissed! Report to the mess hall for supper." Eren, Armin, Connie and Mikasa walked together through the complex as they headed for the mess hall.

"Poor Sasha..." Eren said. "She sounded like she was in a lot of pain."

"When I heard her scream, it startled me heavily." Armin said. "I'm glad that she'll eventually be alright."

"Three months, though." Connie stated with a small gulp. "That's gonna be rough for her."

"I worry that she won't be able to catch up." Armin said. "But at least she'll be able to stay in shape by running." As the boys continued talking, Mikasa walked in silence, staring ahead. Her mind continued to buzz with regret and sorrow for what she had done to Sasha...Not half an hour after they had renewed their relationship, no less.

"Ackerman." Commander Keith said from behind the group as they came to the door of the mess hall. "Wait a moment." Mikasa nodded and stayed behind as Eren, Armin and Connie walked into the mess hall, worried looks on their faces.

"I wanted to tell you that your punishment for breaking Sasha's arm would have been very severe." The Commander said. "But Sasha continually begged me not to punish you. She kept saying that it was an accident. And while that is most likely true, I do not stand for trainees injuring other trainees, no matter the circumstances. You're getting off easy right now because of Sasha. Remember that next time you're interacting with her." Mikasa, struggling to keep tears from filling her eyes, nodded and entered the mess hall.

Sasha cared for her so much that she fought to keep Shadis from punishing her...even when it was Mikasa that had broken her arm. Mikasa got her dinner and sat next to Eren, across from Armin and Connie. Given the circumstances with Sasha, everyone seemed to be at relative ease. The three boys looked at Mikasa as she stared at her food, worried for her current state. They looked at each other momentarily before Eren addressed his adopted sister.

"Mikasa...what did he say to you?" Eren asked.

"He told me that if it wasn't for Sasha begging him not to punish me...I'd be receiving a very severe punishment right now." Mikasa said to Eren.

"Classic Sasha." Connie said with a fond smile. "So caring."

"It really says a lot about Sasha's character that she did that." Armin agreed.

"Mikasa, you didn't mean it." Eren said comfortingly to Mikasa, who looked back at him with her eyes widened. He thought he saw tears in the top trainee's eyes. That was impossible, though. Not Mikasa. Mikasa never cried. Suddenly, she stood and placed her food between the boys.

"I'm going to go see her." Mikasa said as she walked toward the exit. "You three can have my food." Eren, Armin and Connie watched Mikasa confusedly as she left the mess hall to see the girl she had injured. It was a short walk to the infirmary. Mikasa entered and upon seeing that the doctor was out for that time, found Sasha laying on a bed, a blanket over her body and her cast-clad arm resting on top of her abdomen. She was illuminated by a sole candle on the table next to her bed. Even in this current position, Sasha looked beautiful, enough to make Mikasa's stomach flutter. At the sound of Mikasa's footsteps, Sasha's eyes fluttered open. She smiled pleasantly as Mikasa approached her.

"Hi." Sasha said happily, despite her current condition. "I was wondering when you'd show up."

"Does it hurt?" Mikasa asked quietly, veiled by darkness.

"A little." Sasha said. "The real pain was when they set it. They gave me a piece of leather to bite on and everything." As Mikasa approached the bed and came to be illuminated by the candle, Sasha saw that she was crying.

"Sasha...I'm so sorry." Mikasa said, her voice breaking as she knelt down next to the bed.

"Mikasa, please don't blame yourself." Sasha said, reaching her hand over and stroking Mikasa's head lightly.

"How can I not?" Mikasa asked, her eyes widening slightly. "I broke your arm!"

"We hit the ground and I just happened to land wrong." Sasha said. "It was an honest mistake." 

"I...I understand if you don't want to be with me anymore." Mikasa said quietly, looking away from Sasha.

"Kiss me." Sasha said suddenly, taking Mikasa off guard. "Please." Mikasa looked at Sasha and smiled before leaning in and placing a sweet kiss on the brunette's lips. It felt so good to kiss Sasha again. It made Mikasa want to climb up into the bed and wrap her arms around her lover's waist and fall asleep. But she disconnected and came back to her position next to the bed.

"Why did you ask Keith to spare me?" Mikasa asked.

"Besides the obvious fact that it was an accident?" Sasha asked with a smirk. "I did it...because that's what you do when you're in love with someone."

Love.

_Love_.

That word again. It struck a chord in Mikasa and she blushed heavily, looking into Sasha's eyes.

"You love me..." Mikasa said quietly, not taking her eyes away from Sasha's.

"Yes. I do." Sasha replied, blushing heavily as well. "Do you...love me too?" Mikasa didn't even have to think for her reply.

"Of course I do." Mikasa stated quickly. "I love you, Sasha." Mikasa quickly leaned forward and kissed Sasha once more. Sasha brought a hand to Mikasa's cheek and stroked it lovingly and Mikasa did the same. They happily kissed one another for about half a minute before they both heard the door to the infirmary open. Mikasa separated quickly from the kiss and moved into the darkness, quietly waving goodbye to Sasha, which the brunette returned with a sweet smile.

Mikasa left the infirmary through the back door and walked around the front of the building.

"Mikasa." A voice said from the dark alleyway beside the infirmary. The voice caused Mikasa to stop in her tracks and nervously look around. From the alleyway came Armin, making Mikasa's stomach drop. "We need to talk. Right now."

**AN: What will Armin say?! Stay tuned to find out and be sure to tell me what you thought of this chapter! PEACE.**


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